


Wolves (Choni - Riverdale)

by posiewosie



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017), Sabrina the Teenage Witch (TV)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Werewolves Are Known, Angst, F/F, Fanstasy, Fluff, Gay, Lesbian, Lesbian Vampires, Smut, Vampires, Witches, choni, gxg, openff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-08
Updated: 2019-02-23
Packaged: 2019-09-14 02:03:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 13
Words: 36,319
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16904019
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/posiewosie/pseuds/posiewosie
Summary: In a world where Nymphs and Vampires exist, we learn that it's important to know how to run with the wolves.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Basically Legacies meets Harry Potter meets Once Upon a time + lesbians!

"I better not hear another peep out of you about this corset, you obese rat!" Hissed my mother as she yanked the edges of the corset over my breasts and ribs, causing me to hold in a cry of pain. She looked up at me in the mirror with a snake like glint, her red hair flipping over her shoulder youthfully, her outfit too tight and too short, as though she was trying all too hard to be younger than she was.

Sure, it was hilarious, but when you're as hated by your mother as I am, you stay quiet, and you don't humor the possibility of a happy life.

Look at me, 22 and still trapped in the clutches of my mother and father, and their corrupt hand over the city of Greendale.

"Cheryl, honestly, hurry up!" She hissed again, "You'll miss the meeting." She grumbled before walking outside and slamming the big, wooden doors shut for me to finish getting ready.

Meeting is what she calls it, but it may as well be an 18th century English betrothal. She's met with her rich colleagues and found the richest, most eligible men my age, and gathered them all to come to a dinner party, so that I may choose who I should be with.

She wouldn't have gone to these lengths if she hadn't walked on my old friend and I locking lips. 

She hated me before, but this only made it worse, and now, I'm forced to stay under the roof of their household if I don't want to get cut off, and publicly shunned by everyone in this godforsaken city.

I dressed in my most feminine red dress, that flowed to the floor in a dance with the air. I let my hair down from its clip, allowing the curls to bounce into place over my bare shoulders. I applied red lipstick, and slid on matching heels before slipping out of my room, and down the long, winding staircase to greet all the men, and their families.

"Ah," Smiled my mother, holding her wine glass up to me in faux excitement. "Here is the woman of the hour!" She said excitedly, and eyes all fell on me, including the six men that were invited over.

"Let us all mingle!" She announced, causing everyone to disperse, and I moved over to the table in the far corner of the room to grab a glass of white wine.

I needed to at least feel a little woozy if I'd be able to get through this disgustingly heteronormative party.

"Are you sure you should be drinking that?" Said someone from behind me, a scrawny little boy with a sly grin on his face, his glasses covering half of it.

"I'm sorry, and who are you to tell me about my body?" I asked, and his grin fell away.

"I-I'm Dilton Doiley, the son of Daryl Doiley. Owner of Doiley Pharmaceutical." He sputtered, and I rolled my eyes.

"Why would I want to associate myself with someone who makes his fortune off of the money of people's sickness?" I asked, but before he could respond, I clicked my tongue, "Thank you, next." I assured, and he looked down before scurrying away from me.

It was the fourth man that made me feel much less uncomfortable.

I was standing out at the balcony, leaning against the concrete, looking out at the warm glow of the afternoon sun falling over the city that never felt like it ended, it was so big, when I felt someone behind me.

"Afternoon, Miz Blossom." I heard a soft chuckle from behind me, and snapped my head over my shoulder to look at the tall man standing beside me.

"Afternoon...?"

"Kevin." He smiled dopily, his hands behind him as he looked out at the city below us. "Just Kevin." He assured.

"Okay... just Kevin. Call me Cheryl." I humored, and he chuckled.

"I'm not here to be your betrothal, Cheryl." He divulged, causing my head to snap at him in confusion.

"Then..?" I inquired, and he chuckled, placing a simply soft hand upon my own, and something happened.

I felt... something. I couldn't explain what it was, not even remotely, but it wasn't anything I've ever heard in my life.

It was like, I shock of energy rolling up my spine, and it felt like all the pain in my body, and in my heart, had fled into the void that I had escaped into when I was alone, and safe to stop pretending to be someone I wasn't.

It felt... magical.

He took his hand off of me, and I felt myself stumble at the sudden change in pace, and the pain all came back, making my body feel heavy, lungs unable to pump air properly.

"W-what was that?" I exhaled, and the tall, green eyed man simply smiled at me, saluting me before walking back into the house, disappearing amongst the people.

"What the f-"

"Hello, Cheryl Blossom." Grinned a blonde boy, causing me to roll my eyes.

...

The day was less than eventful onward, to say the least.

I mean, how could any event compare to the feeling I had earlier upon having contact with that man.

I never thought I'd find love in a man, and I didn't find him especially attractive, but was this love?

Was that what they were talking about when they talk about soulmates?

It sure gave me that level of satisfaction, just having his hand on mine.

I had to find this Kevin.

I scoured Greendale for him, I paid people to search for him, and I google searched him.

What even was the point of him visiting me if he wasn't looking to marry me and join our companies together?

And how did he make me feel that way?

It didn't make sense, because it didn't even feel real.

I searched for weeks, until I started to lose hope, and I kept my eye out, until I was met with my mother, who was fed up, as usual.

"Honestly, Cheryl, what is taking you so long to decide on who you'll be taking to the Blossom Ball this week?" She asked, and I groaned, dropping my spoon into my bowl and moving to walk past her at the breakfast table, only for her nails to dig into my skin. "You're not going to ruin my reputation with you deviant ways, do you understand, child?"

"What I understand is that you better get your talons off my arm if you don't want me to commit animal cruelty, mother." I hissed, ripping my arm out of her grasp and storming away, through the big, empty halls of this big, empty house.

I was being forced out of the house the next day, but honesty, it was worth it.

Sure, it was a stupid reason that made me go, but it was very truly long awaited, considering the fact that she's been mentally abusing me since I was young.

Clifford, my father, on the other hand, was another story.

He just ignored me. He hasn't spoken a word to me other than in public since I was sixteen.

Again, it was never clear to me as to why, but I always assumed it was because he knew I was gay, or because he was a misogynist. It's why he spoiled Jason and made me sleep in the bathroom until I was eighteen, and Jason left for some business thing in Japan.

Maybe all of this would've been more bearable with him around these days, but I haven't seen my twin in four years, and I've felt even more alone ever since.

I didn't have anywhere to go, no money, not even a car, so I didn't have a choice on as to whether I'd be leaving Greendale or not.

There was a bridge on the way to southern California, where all the outcasts of Greendale slept and lived, in hopes of being picked up and brought to LA.

Honestly, I just wanted a home.

I fell asleep that night, cuddle in the single blanket I could fit in my backpack, in the corner of the bridge, where my ribs were getting bruised just from lying on the concrete for the few minutes leading up to my reluctant slumber.

I woke up the next morning, surprisingly more comfortable than when I fell asleep, and I stretched before opening my eyes, forcing them open when I feel someone beside me.

"Gahhh!!" I squealed when I was met with a pair of startlingly bright blue eyes staring at me with a smile, soft and kind, yet still terrifying, considering I woke up beside it when I'd never seen it before.

I rolled away, and fell onto the ground, confused on as to why I fell off of something when I fell asleep on the ground. I looked around, noticing that I was in a room with grey walls, which were coated in drawings and band posters.

"Good morning, sleepyhead." Chuckled the person from the bed before sitting up, showing me her hair, which was messy and curly in the middle, the sides shaved neatly. She was really tall, and despite the fact she was wearing a sweatshirt, she looked strong. Very strong.

"Wh-where am I?" I asked, my hands shaking as I shuffled from foot to foot on her carpet. "Who are you?" I asked, and the woman stood up, the blanket sliding off of her legs to reveal she was wearing red boxer shorts. She stood up, her long, strong legs tensing as she did so. Good God, she towered over me. She could snap me like a twig if she wanted to.

"I'm Lulu." She grinned, extending an arm out to me, allowing me to take her hand and shake it. "You're in my bedroom, and you shouldn't be worried." She assured, her voice sounding kind, almost nurturing as she spoke. "I uh... would've put on pants if I knew someone was coming." She chuckled with a blush before moving to her dresser and pulling out a pair of sweatpants to slip on.

"I didn't come here." I said, my voice shaky as I looked around, and she chuckled as she closed her drawer and opened her door to let me out and follow me into a long hallway.

"Nobody really does." She shrugs. "They usually just end up here." She hummed, giving me a once over for a moment. "Do you need clothes? My girlfriend probably has some that'll fit you if you'd like." She offered, and I shook my head, trying to make sense of everything.

"Wait wait, how do we just end up here?" I asked, and was startled when I heard someone from behind.

"Our abilities take us here." said the voice, and I turned around to see a significantly shorter woman staring up at Lulu and I with a small smile. "I see you woke up with another girl in your bed, Lu." She grinned with a fake scowl, to which the tall, muscular woman laughed. "Veronica," greeted the raven haired woman, her hand coming out to shake mine. "Veronica Lodge. I see you've met my girlfriend, Lucille Leatherbelly." She hummed, greeting Lulu with a smile, and a kiss on the cheek.

"Can you tell me where I am?" I asked, "I asked Lulu, but she's being slightly cryptic." I chuckled, and Lulu simply shrugged.

"I'm just trying to make the experience more sexy and mysterious." She winked, and I sighed.

"Look, I fell asleep under the bridge in Greendale, and I woke up next to a weirdly attractive stranger. If that isn't sexy and mysterious enough, can you just skip ahead?" I asked, and she hummed.

"Yes, of course. My apologies." She gave me a bright smile before tucking her hands behind her back and walking through the long, narrow hallway filled with identical doors, until we made it to an open archway. "This, is our house. Usually, certain packs stay with others, so we can get you to your own house." She smiled, turning to me and gesturing to the living room, which had four people sitting around on the couch, minding their own business until I walked in. "That's Rafael," she pointed to a tall, muscular man with dark skin, a strong jawline and kind brown eyes. He nodded at me, his hands attached to a controller as he stared at the flat screen on the wall intently. "That's my best friend, Fangs," She said, pointing to Chuck's opponent, who had brown eyes and more pale skin, with black hair that stood atop his head. "And that's my brother, Sweetpea." She said, referring the the tall man, even taller than Lulu, who was sleeping across the length of one of the two black leather couches. "There are others, but they're all probably on the first morning run." She chuckled. "I'm their alpha." She grinned proudly, and I rose a brow.

"Is this, like, some kind of weird, cult thing?" I asked, and Lulu chuckled.

"What do you mean?" She asked, and I stepped back, only to bump into someone. I gasped, and turned around to see a strong man with red hair and no shirt on looking at me.

"New wolf, Lu?" He asked, and I cowered back into the wall, unsure of how to think.

"Lulu, I don't think she understands what's going on." Veronica muttered, and the tall, blue eyed woman hummed.

"Do you think she was raised by skeptics?" She asked, and the red haired boy shook his head.

"I think she doesn't even realize her powers." He hummed, and I began to feel dizzy.

"We should take her to Kevin."

...

I woke up in another unknown room, only it was stark white, and I was lying on a similarly colored couch. I immediately sat up, and my eyes fell to the chair across from me in the large,nearly empty room. In the chair sat a man with his leg crossed over his opposing one. I looked into his eyes and immediately felt at ease.

"Kevin, thank God. What's happening?" I asked, and the man smiled softly.

"Cheryl, let me show you something," he asked, reaching a hand out for mine, and I took it hesitantly. I was surprised when I didn't feel anything change when he touched my skin, and even more surprised when I realized that I was already feeling it. Light and airy,as though all the pain was gone from my heart, despite how heavy it felt in such a sudden, unknown situation.

He took us to a foyer, out a door, to the outside, and I immediately looked around, seeing a plethora of knew colors, and hearing new things to be heard, smelling new smells.

"This is Riverdale."


	2. Eins

"Riverdale?" I inquired, and he nodded softly, letting my hand go and walking down the cobblestone path, down a normal looking sidewalk. The grass was greener than the ones in our fields, despite the fact that we paid gardeners to come work on them. The flowers were bright, the sun, kind and soft, instead of harsh and unforgiving.

"A town that deceives the normal, bland eye, but embraces the different." He exhaled, basking in the sunlight. "A town of things you'll never see, but will learn to love and care about in time." He grinned.

"What does that mean?" I asked as we crossed the unbusy street to what seemed to be a park. We walked into the trees, which almost felt like a forest, how dense it was, and how tall the trees were.

He reached into the pocket of his perfectly pressed suit, and pulled out a bag of what seemed to be salt rocks, only they were purple. Her pulled one out of the little mesh bag.

"Hold out your hand." He required, and I did, allowing him to drop the little stone into it. "Now, close it." He closed his hand around mine. "Now your eyes." He whispered, and as soon as I complied, I my eyes became a projector, projecting a slideshow of emotions in my mind. "People used to live in harmony with people like me, and your tour guide, Lulu. We could all run," As he spoke, I felt air rush past my face as I looked around, and wolves were running past me, people standing amongst them in the trees. "We could all sleep, and eat together." The image behind my eyes faded out, an image of war and destruction coming up, it was like shadow figures on a way, the humans all ganging up on the wolves, stabbing them with spheres, leaving them to die. "Until humans felt threatened, no longer being at the top of the pyramid, and began to slaughter us." An image of two women standing came up, and they waved their hands together, bringing up trees, and buildings, and eventually, an entire city. "To avoid that, our witch ancestors built this town for us. Undetectable by any humans, but a beacon to magical beings." I opened my eyes, and his bright green eyes were smiling at me. "Magical beings like you." He grinned, and, overwhelmed, I stepped back, stumbling over a tree root and falling back, only to be caught in mid air by nothing. I looked under me, and there wasn't anything. I looked at Kevin, and he had his hand out, palm facing himself. He moved his hand toward him, setting me back on my seat.

"W-well what kind of being am I?" I asked, and he shrugged.

"We'll have to administer some tests, if that's okay with you." He asked, "No injections, or anything like that," he assured, and I sighed.

"Okay. I trust you."

I shouldn't be, considering the fact that I've met him twice, and he could very well be super evil.

"Great," he grinned, "tomorrow. Today, we'll walk around, and I'll you get to know people around town." He assured, "Now that you've already seen the forest, we can go check out the other habitats." He grinned, and I rose a brow.

"Habitats?" I asked.

"Normal animals live here, for the sake of hunting for some of our more... carnivorous creatures, so we keep it as real as possible. This city stretches on for thousands of miles." he chuckled, gesturing to the left when we met with the lip of the forest. It was a large grassland, and just to the left of that was a lake. "Riverdale is almost like its own world. Nothing else is within it other than this, and we can allow it to expand as much as we want."

"Fascinating." I hummed, looking around at the people walking and running around.

"Hey, Kev, heads up!" Shouted Lulu from far off in the field, and I looked up, noticing something flying my way. I rose my hands up to shield myself, and caught it.

A football.

How did I just catch it like that? I've literally never touched a football in my life.

The only thing I've been able to catch before was the flu.

And feelings.

"Whoa," Laughed Lulu as she ran over. I blinked, and she went from being fifty feet away, to being at my face by the time I opened my eyes again. "That was a bullet I threw," she informed,

"I had a feeling she was a werewolf." Said the redheaded boy, coming up behind the woman, who was shirtless, wearing a sports bra, showing off her rippled arms and abdomen.

"Nah, Arch, she's a vamp." Smiled Lulu, "Like Ronnie." She smiled, and I rose a brow.

"I-I think I'd know if I was a vampire." I chuckled, and Lulu shook her head.

"They're not like the ones you read about." She assured, "Yeah, they're fast, strong, and they crave blood, but they don't burn alive when they see the sun,that's stupid. Garlic doesn't kill them. Fire does though." She chuckled.

"You'd be surprised to hear how many people are born a vampire and don't even realize it." Informed Kevin, and I rose a brow. "A Vampire is often the result of the mating of a witch and a spirit."

"Oh," I chuckled, shaking my head, "no, there's nothing special about my parents." I assumed, and Kevin smiled softly.

"Nothing is ever quite as it seems." He smiled, "Now, you've entered a world where there is no field sucking your magical energy, so you'll be able to use it. Go ahead and give the ball a nice throw." He suggested, and I did, watching as Lulu was replaced by a large, grey wolf before my eyes, running after the ball with a copper colored one, which must've replaced the redheaded boy in front of me. I watched the ball fall about a hundred feet out, and Kevin gave me a look of approval. "Who would you like to meet?"

"Who are the nice ones?" I asked, and he chuckled.

"Let's go to the gardens then."

...

"Nymphs!" I laughed as I watched the blonde woman with the blue eyes grow a cherry blossom from the palm of her hand. She held it out to me, and I picked it, smelling it and placing it in a fold of my hair.

"This is Betty," Kevin grinned, pointing to the woman as she lifted a tomato plant from its root. "Betty, this is Cheryl."

"Nice to meet you." She smiled softly.

"Nymphs aren't notorious for their speech." He added, "They much prefer being seen to being heard." He chuckled, and looked down suddenly when he noticed a little girl running beneath his legs and over his legs.

"Her hand is literally a leaf, Kevin." I whispered about the little girl, and he laughed.

"She's still getting used to her powers." He informed as the little girl ran off in the distance to join a group of kids off in the distance, where tulips and poppies and roses and daisies and sunflowers all grew, thriving with a sense of beauty that took my breath away.

I'd love to be a nymph.

"Hey, Kev!" Smiled a beautiful woman with brown skin and black hair as she walked up to greet him.

"Josie, this is Cheryl!" He smiled, and the girl crossed her arms as she looked at me.

"I thought I could sense a new witch." She winked at me, and he laughed.

"No, I didn't say she was a witch."

"Yeah, but I did, just now." She assured, and he rolled his eyes.

"Witches tend to be know-it-alls sometimes." He whispered, and the beautiful woman looked to him with a rose brow.

"Watch it boy, I'll give you dumbo ears again." She warned, and he held his hands up in surrender. "Oh, but this one is stunning," She hummed, circling me as her eyes raked down my body. "Are you gay?" She asked, and I sputtered for a moment.

"W-what? Why would you ask that?" I asked, and she chuckled.

"I'll take that as a yes." She hummed, looking at Kevin over her shoulder. "Most people here are." She assured, "Don't worry, girl. If you started out with the wolves like most newbies your age do, you've already met tons of gays. Lulu, Fangs, Veronica was probably already over by that time, and of course Kevin and I." she smiled, and I looked up at the man in shock.

Yeah, nope, never mind. That's obvious.

"We don't discriminate for that kinda thing, Cheryl. Don't worry about the closet thing." He assured.

"How about I take it from here, Kev?" I asked, and he waved me off with her.

"I have to see how my boyfriend is doing anyway." He smiled, pointing back at the wolves.

"Fangs." She voiced, answering my unspoken question, and I wondered how she knew what I was thinking. "I can read minds." She chuckled, and I hummed. That meant she knows I think she's pretty. "Everyone thinks I'm pretty, hun." She laughed.

"Stop doing that." I demanded, and she laughed again before taking my hand and dragging me out to the houses.

"This is the Witch mansion." She grinned, pointing me to a huge, five story mansion with two large red doors, a beautiful contrast to the stark white. She opened the door, and as soon as we stepped in, a heavy flash of light assaulted my vision, causing me to flinch.

"Ethel! If you don't get Minnie under control, I will!" Josie yelled, and across the threshold yelled a little blonde girl with freckles, a wand in her hand as she giggled and ran away from a much bigger, taller looking version of her. "It's usually pretty chaotic around here." She assured, and I couldn't help but giggle at the sight before me.

The house was dimly lit, and it was easy on the eyes, much nicer and more me than the wolf house. I turned to the left and saw a dining room, and walk a few feet to the right to be met with a front room with a coffee table, around it sitting three witches, holding hands and closing their eyes as they chanted some incantation I didn't recognize. Why would I? I mean, I've never practiced witchcraft.

"That's Valerie, Melody, and Sabrina. They like to keep to themselves, and we like that about them." She assured before dragging me back into the hallway, opening a door to a room, showing me a girl with short, black hair and green eyes. She was sitting on the top of a loft bed, her legs hanging from it, between the bars in the bed. "Midge, we got a new Witch, Cheryl." She smiled, and the black haired woman disappeared, and reappeared in front of my fac3, causing me to reel back in a start.

"She doesn't feel like a witch." She whispered, closing her eyes and inhaling sharply. "She smells like a wolf."

"W-well, I woke up in the wolf house." I stuttered, and she looked me up and down before chuckling.

"She's not a witch." She assured. "At least not only a witch. Show her to the shifters, or the hybrids. They're be able to sniff her out." She winked, and the door was suddenly in my face.

"She's not very nice." I grumbled, scratching the back of my head, and Josie chuckled.

"Don't mind her, she's just moody because her boyfriend is away on shifter business."

"You're allowed to leave this place?" I asked as she walked me out of the mansion, down the block.

"Yeah!" She assured, "Millions of witches, werewolves, nymphs, even elves, choose to live outside of Riverdale, but we'll always welcome them back with open arms, as long as their intentions are pure."

"I kind of expected this place to be ran like a school, with rules and regulations and bedtimes." I admitted.

"You're funny." She hummed, "The only rules here have to do with morality. You know, don't hurt other magical creatures. We care a lot about our humanity, so we're not going to lock our friends and family up in a zoo." She smiled.

"Wait, you said that you were a witch, but it sounded like you were implying that Kevin wasn't. How is that?" I inquired as we walked through a patch of daffodils.

"Testosterone prevents magic from coursing through the veins as quickly as estrogen driven creatures, so he's a type of witch, only less powerful. He's a warlock. He's the most powerful of his kind, but even little Missie Muggs has more power running through her veins than him." She sighed sadly, "Unfair, I know, but he has more privilege in society, being a man."

"So what's this house?" I asked, referring to the smaller dwelling we stopped in front of.

"This is the hybrid house." She hummed, putting a hand out for me to take. Upon touching her hand, I felt giddy, and I didn't know why. I didn't have anything else to look forward. "I think it's because you're an empath." She hummed, and I rose a brow. "You feel the excitement I feel, because my boyfriend lives here." She said excitedly.

"I thought you said you were gay." I recalled.

"Eh, gay, bisexual, pansexual, here, sexuality is pretty fluid. Most people don't care about labels like that."

Sounds nice.

"Anyway, let's go in!" She squealed, conjuring the door open with her unoccupied hand, and through it, stood a familiar face.

Golden brown eyes smiled back at me, before arms wrapped around me.

"Finally!" Exhaled my brother as he hugged me tightly, and my rigid body faltered into a rest as I felt the familiar sensation of being held by my big brother.

"I missed you so much. W-what are you doing here?" I asked, looking around the little house, then to him.

"I've been here since we turned eighteen." He admitted, reaching a hand out to Josie, who took it and leaned against his arm.

Wow. Didn't see that coming. At least he has good taste.

"I met Josie when she came to assess me, and she said I was ready then." He smiled, leaning down to kiss his girlfriend deeply.

Cute, I guess, or whatever.

"Why didn't you take me with you?" I asked.

"You weren't ready. You were always treated badly, and I'm guessing that because you didn't have any happiness in your life, your powers didn't manifest until much later than mine."

"When did you realize you had powers?" I inquired, and he hesitated, looking around for a moment before his eyes cast downward.

"I was fourteen." He cleared his throat, and my eyes widened.

"Are you serious?" I grunted, and he sighed.

"I know, it isn't fair, but I couldn't take you with me. You didn't have any magic running through your veins because depression blocks it, and you wouldn't have been able to pass into Riverdale." He admitted, and I didn't understand.

"I still had depression yesterday, Jason!" I yelled, and he sighed.

"Kevin went to visit you because he could feel the pain in you. An oracal saw your future without Kevin's interference, and you would've killed yourself." He divulged, "Kevin had to check on you, and he touched you to activate your magic."

"Well, why didn't it work with us all these years?"

"It only works when it comes from someone of a different power source. Since you both came from your mother, you both have the same power source, which is her." She derived, and I rose a brow.

"Where did her power come from?" I asked, and Jason shrugged.

"I have no idea."

"Some humans without magical blood can produce magical children if their heart was filled with light, and hope, and love." Josie divulged, and Jason and I both looked at each other at the same time, before letting out the same response.

"Nah."

"Our mother is the least kind person I know." I admitted, and Jason shrugged in agreement.

"I'm assuming," Jason hummed, "that since I tested as a hybrid, you will too, so how about I show you around?" he offered, and I shrugged.

"Why is this house so much smaller than the others?" I asked, and he smiled, walking into the kitchen and tossing me an apple.

God, I was starving.

I took a bite out of it and almost moaned at the taste. It was the best tasting apple I've ever had in my life.

"There are tens of witches, and warlocks, and wolves, and nymphs in those houses, but there are only two hybrids in Riverdale, beside you, so we don't need a big house. Besides, if we need more room, we'll just use an extension charm." He chuckled, and I rose a brow.

"There are so many houses in this town, how is it that there are only tens of them?" I inquired.

"The houses are split off by age. Everyone in Lulu's mansion are in the same age group. Most of them were born here, and grew up in that house together. It's like that for every house. If someone new comes in, they get grouped in with their age."

"Do we have to live in houses with our respective species?" I asked.

"Well, a wolf can't live with, say, nymphs, if that's what you mean. It disturbs the balance, because even if one doesn't like the wolf there, it causes bitterness among the nymphs, and it makes their home less harmonious." Josie answered.

"But, if you wish to live with a specific person outside of your group, you can. And many people decide to move out of their houses when they hit a certain age, like moving out of your parent's house. You'll have to work to pull your weight around Riverdale though." Jason added. "I teach young warlocks how to control their powers." He grinned.

"I spend a lot of time out in the unmagical world, finding people and bringing them back." Josie hummed.

"You can always get a normal job, like as a grocer, or a cook." My brother assured, "We don't really have any form of currency, considering the fact that the city is completely run on magic, so we don't need to pay for power, or water, or gas or anything. It's mostly just us all, coexisting and being happy with the friends and family we make here."

"You said you taught warlocks." I recalled, "What else are you mixed with?" I asked, and he hummed.

"Vampire." He grinned, and I rose a brow.

"Kevin said that vampires are made when spirits mate with witches." I recalled in confusion. "What does that mean?"

"I'm assuming it means that your mother is either a witch or a vampire." Josie explained.

Probably a vampire, she sure did suck the life out of me.

"But Cheryl," my brother breathed in, placing his hand on my shoulder, "you don't feel like a vampire. Or a witch for that matter." He closed his eyes and his face seemed perplexed. "Weird." He muttered.

"Tell me why mom liked you and not me then." I demanded, "When I found out I'm one of you, I thought that maybe it made sense, but you're more one of them than me, so why did our parents like you and not me?"

"I remember, one night when we were really young, like six or seven, I woke up in the middle of the night to check on you, and your skin was glowing, you were floating above the bed, and you didn't even know, because you were dead asleep. I didn't know what else to do, so I told mom and dad, and they came in and started freaking out. That was around the time dad started ignoring you. I honestly wish we had answers, Cher." He sighed, and I pulled away from him sadly, throwing the apple in the wastebasket.

"So, who's the other one who lives here?" I asked, turning to look around, and out of thin air conjured up a shorter woman with pink hair, and tan skin, and plump lips, she had brown eyes, and she was wearing a leather jacket, her arms crossed over her chest. "Wow." I whispered, and a brown eyebrow rose at me.

"I thought I felt a new energy this morning." She cocked her head to the side to look up at me with interest before smiling coyly. "I'm Toni. Toni Topaz." She smiled softly, and I felt my knees buckle.

"Well," Josie grinned knowingly before taking Jason's hand and heading back toward a hallway. "We're just gonna leave you two alone." She said slyly before disappearing.

"Looks like it's just us." She hummed, her voice low as she looked behind her to the lack of presence behind her.

"Y-yeah." I hummed, and she rose a brow.

"You okay, red?" She inquired, and I swallowed a lump in my throat.

"C-Cheryl." I stuttered, and she chuckled.

"You're cute, Cheryl." She assured, moving her hands down to her pockets. "What's your species?" She asked, stepping forward and inhaling. "You smell like a wolf." She hummed, "Lulu's my best friend." She divulged, and I rose a brow.

"You don't seem like you'd mesh well." I admitted, and she chuckled.

"You'd be surprised." She hummed. "Seriously, what are you?" She asked, and I shrugged. "Jay's your brother, right? So that should make you a vamp and a witch, but you smell different. And you just don't feel like a witch." She seemed like she was having a hard time figuring me out.

"I-I don't know what I am." I admitted, "I didn't even know I wasn't human until a couple hours ago."

"Well, we can figure that out together." She smirked. "What do you say, Cheryl? Up for a little fun?"


	3. Deux

"I know you said you don't know what you are," Toni began as we walked back toward the forest area where Kevin had taken me. The sun was coming down, and I watched as the rays of light warmed Toni's cold pink hair, giving off a glow from her beautiful cheeks. She lead the way as we walked through the dense forest, standing in an arch of trees that draped over her magically. "How about we find that out tonight?" She suggested. "The tests are boring, and this is a way you can test out your powers."

"I-I guess." I sighed, rubbing the back of my head nervously.

"Come here." She said, holding her hands out for me, and I took them. "Close your eyes." Her voice was quiet, and I recalled back to what happened with Kevin. It just occurred to me that the little stone in my hand disappeared. I didn't drop it, I didn't crush it. It just disappeared. "Now, I have the ability to walk through memories with people." She admitted, moving my hands up until they were on her face. She touched mine, and I felt her forehead fall against mine.

Suddenly, my body felt cold, and I opened my eyes when Toni pulled away from me. I looked around, and we were standing on top of a mountain. I shuttered, and she snapped, making clothing appear on my body, then on her own.

A read pea coat.

She knows me so well already.

"Over there," she whispered, pointing a ways down the snowy-covered mountain, to a wolf pup, wandering around the trees, crying and whimpering as it looked around for help.

It was snowy white, and the only reason I could see it was because it was standing in front of a tree, making it stand out against the brown of its trunk.

It was shivering, and it's whines began to escalate until they began to echo off of things, making snow and rocks crumble from just below us.

I went to run down and help it, but I felt Toni's hand grab my elbow to keep me from running at it.

"Just watch." She whispered, and I squinted before seeing someone come out of thin air. She held up a hand, stopping the rocks and snow from falling in mid air before running to the wolf pup and calling it into her arms. The pup jumped against the woman, and the woman waved her hand over the small animal, causing it to form into a baby. "That's me." She grinned softly, and I rose a brow.

"You're a wolf hybrid?" I asked, and she nodded with her hands behind her back.

"I was abandoned before I could remember, and I was taken in by a few wolves before I lost them in the storm. That was my second time being a human, aside from when I was born." I admitted. "They built the hybrid house for me so that I wouldn't be mixed in with all the wolves, because I gave Lulu a tail." she chuckled, and I rose a brow.

"What's weird about that?" I inquired in confusion, and she waved her hand, showing me what must've been a live memory of a tall, thick little girl with blue eyes and dark brown hair. She turned around, and from her backside was a long, thick scaly reptile tail. "Oh." She laughed and closed her hand in time for me to watch the woman disappear, and the snow fall to the ground below.

"Let's see when your powers first manifested, yeah?" She asked, turning to me and offering her head to me, where I placed my hands on her cold cheeks.

I closed my eyes, and exhaled at the warmth I felt before opening them again.

I was in a hospital room, and I looked down to two little redheaded babies lying in an ancubator beside the bed of what had to be my mother, sleeping.

"There's no way I remember this." I shook my head, and she smiled.

"Your head doesn't remember it, but your magic does." she moved me to look at the babies, and I watched the one in the pink blanket intently, waiting for something to happen, but nothing did. 

I must've stood there for twenty minutes before I looked up.

"This is taking too long." I groaned in a whisper and she rose a brow.

"It's been twenty seconds, Cheryl." She ridiculed.

Oh.

I guess patience isn't my best quality.

"Watch." She whispered, and I watched intently as the baby version of me began to float in mid air. I gasped, covering my mouth in fear, looking around frantically. "This is just a memory, nobody can hear you." Toni informed, and I exhaled in relief before giving all my attention back to the floating baby, who was on her way to my mother's bed. She landed safely in my mother's awaiting arms, and she smiled down at her, running her finger through the thin red hair atop my head.

"I think that was your mom making you float." She hummed. "There's no way a baby can do that so young." She shook her head in confusion, and I rose a brown before walking around Jason, and toward my mom, who was holding me.

"I love you so much." She smiled, kissing my forehead and holding me against the chest.

That was when it happened.

Jason floated across my view, and I met my mom's eyes, which were wide with disbelief. She looked down to a wide-eyed me after Jason landed safely on her lap, and I walked over to look at me too, and I watched a literal light come out of my eyes.

"What on earth?" I whispered, and Jason began to glow, his skin, his hair emanating a bright yellow light, and I turned my head to Toni, whose eyes were wide.

"Amazing!" She laughed before looking at me. "You're a power beacon! Cheryl, you gave Jason his powers!" She slapped her thigh in disbelief before taking my hands again. I placed my hands on her cheeks, and we were in my childhood bedroom.

It was the moment Jason walked into my room to check on me, and i looked over to see me, as a little girl, floating over my bed, my own skin glowing a bright purple color.

He ran up to touch me, and there was a bright purple spark that zipped from my skin to his finger.

His eyes flashed a bright light, and his skin glowed a bright yellow again, for just a moment before he ran out to tell our parents.

She waved her hand, and we were back in the middle of the woods, our foreheads against each other, as though I never moved.

Which, I didn't.

Not physically, but mentally? Oh yeah.

"A beacon!" Toni laughed, falling back against a tree behind her.

"What's a beacon?" I asked, and she sputtered for a moment.

"They've only been heard of before!" She said giddily "A beacon is an all-powerful witch who can bestow powers of their own upon others, like royalty knighting people." She laughed, "But that must mean you're a tribrid!" she gasped.

"A what?" I inquired, and she grinned.

"A tribrid is a mixture of three different abilities. Beacons were told to be hybrids, and they usually bestow one if their two abilities, so to save the strongest one for themselves. What if you spared part of two abilities, and that's the real reason your magic couldn't be detected?" She inquired, and I shook my head, which began to throb from how overwhelmed I was.

"What would all of this mean?" I inquired, and she seemed to think on it for a moment.

"Maybe you were meant to do what the others used to do!" She laughed. "Kevin said my parents used to fight in a rebellion against the people who used to try and govern magic like Nazis." She divulged, snapping before seating herself on a blanket that randomly appeared beneath her feet. I sat down too, and she snapped her fingers again, conjuring up a fire, whose light fell against the tree in the pitch black. From the light, came shadows that danced around in figures of people.

"Back when witches and humans tried to work together," she whispered, showing people in pointed hats, holding hands with people who didn't wear hats. "Humans began to have a say in what witches and warlocks could do with their powers. They put wolves in cages, and nymphs in sanctuaries." An image on a dazed wolf forming into a person came about, followed by that of wilting plants. "Eventually, there were humans hunting after vampires, and wolves, and eventually, the only people who had rights were people, and governing witches and warlocks. Legend says that there was a rebellion of witches, warlocks, nymphs, wolves, vampires, and hundreds of other creatures who fought in a great war." that same image from Kevin's story showed up, death and destruction. "Magical creatures almost went extinct before the founders of this city came about, wiping every memory of us from all humans, and offering safety and refuge to anyone through this town."

"Your parents sound brave." I hummed, and she shrugged.

"I've heard lots of stories, but to me, they just weren't there, ya know?" She asked, hugging her knees to her chest.

"I get it." I admitted, "I mean, I found out my brother left me for a life of fun and beauty, and magic, while I was stuck behind, being emotionally abused and forced into my parents' heteronormative dating standards."

"Yeah, and finding out he's the reason you couldn't leave must not be any better." She assumed, and I mirrored her stance.

"Not at all." I hummed, and suddenly, I felt a wave of melancholy wash over me. "I'm an empath." I hummed, and she rose a brow.

"I'm not trying to kill your vibe." She chuckled. 

"No, it's... It's okay." I placed my hand over hers after she laid it on the ground between us. "It's nice, being able to spend time with someone who gets it." I smiled, and she looked up at me softly. I felt my heart pound in my chest, and I couldn't fight back a smile. 

She was happy too.

I could feel it.

...

"Do you want to sleep in the wolf mansion again tonight?" Toni asked from beside me as we walked back down main street, and I shrugged.

"I think I'll just sleep in the hybrid house, on the couch, since I've been given an invitation there." 

"You're funny." Toni shouted over here shoulder at me, and I rose a brow at her. "Come with me." She hummed, pulling my hand and dragging me to the house. We walked into the house, and she took me to a room in the hallway that was huge. It was bigger than my bedroom and Jason's bedroom combined.

Upon walking in, there was a large circular bed that was suspended in the air by magic, about five feet up, completely covered in pillows and blankets. There was a window on the side, beyond some wardrobes, and what looked like an artist's table. On the left was a completely blanket wall, and she snapped her fingers at it, making a large, wooden oak door show up out of nowhere.

She opened it, and it was about the size of a closet, until she waved her hands, allowing it to expand into a big, empty room with high rise ceilings.

"What do you like?" She asked, and I sputtered for a moment.

"Books? And the color red. And I love music." I couldn't help but smile at the fond memories involving music, "We had a grand piano in the den that I taught myself how to play." I felt a warm fuzzy feeling in my heart when I remembered my friend, Heather, and the effect she had on me when it came to music. "Heather used to play her guitar for me in the garden outside the house, she taught me how to play it." I hummed softly, "and there was an old hammock that stood between these cherry trees that I used to fall asleep on while reading some Shakespeare script." I sighed happily, not opening my eyes until I heard Toni clear her throat.

I opened my eyes to notice it was already completely decorated.

Oh.

It looked amazing. There was a hammock in the middle of the room, tied to two cherry trees, which were planted in the ground, a little square cut out of the tile for the roots to healthily grow.

In the far corner, there was a pearl white piano, behind it, an endless supply of books on tall, wooden bookshelves that stretched as high as the ceiling did. On the ceiling was nothing, it was like a portal that showed the beautiful night sky.

There was a blue guitar on a stand in the corner by the door, and I felt my breath hitch.

'How did you manage to make it look exactly like I wanted?" I asked, my voice hoarse from trying to fight back tears.

"All I did was the roof." Toni smiled. "This was all you."

"What?" I asked, and she leaned against the doorway, pointing into the room, making a circular rug appear beneath the piano, a deep red color that brought the room together. She snapped, and against the wall by the bookshelves appeared a white leather couch.

"You did it." She smiled.

"With your help!" I squealed, pulling the shorter woman in for a hug. I felt my heart pitter patter, and it made me realize that Toni really didn't mind me. "Thank you." I whispered, and she stepped back.

"No problem, red. If you want to get in, just walk through the wall behind the trees, and you'll be in the kitchen." She assured, "if you need some clothes, I got you." She winked, snapping her fingers and changing my white jeans and hoodie to a pair of sweatpants and a red tank top. "It's late, I'll see you tomorrow, tribrid."


	4. Tres

"Toni tells me you went on a little... adventure last night?" Hummed Kevin from where he stood, arms behind him as we stood at the lake. He looked out of place, standing by the lake in a suit and fancy loafers.

"Yeah," I smiled, "It was amazing! I found out so much about myself."

"That's great, Cheryl." He hummed, "Now, we know you're beacon. We also know that you have super strength, have powers, and have some sort of deviant inside of you."

"Deviant?" I queried, and he nodded.

"A spirit, or vampire. Unfortunately, we don't have a better name than what the humans gave them, but they're all okay with it." He assured, "Last week, Veronica told me she likes it because it makes her feel like a rebel." He chuckled. "Anyway, we need to know the extent of your strength. I need you to swim across the river." He requested, and I rose a brow.

"It's like thirty degrees outside." I argued.

"And?"

"And... I don't want my nipples to freeze off..?" I answered, causing him to roll his eyes.

 

"All deviants, as well as werewolves are able to regulate their body temperature through movement. You'll be fine, and if you aren't, Valerie is a healer, so you'll be just fine." He humed, and I groaned before removing my pants and shoes, and diving in.

He was right, it was only cold upon impact, but as soon as my body was completely submerged, I felt warm again. I didn't waste a moment before beginning the swim across the lake, my arms flexing and burning as I moved faster, until I could barely register that it was my limbs moving. I made it to one end, and barely needed to come up for air before turning back and hoisting myself out of the water, just moments later.

"Twelve seconds." He hummed, stepping from his heels to his toes with mild impression. "Super speed and strength." He hummed, "We just have to figure out how far your strength goes." He assured with a grin on his face.

...

"Come on, you can do it, Cheryl!" Called Archie, the redheaded Wolf, from behind me where I sat at the table in the middle of the Wolf Mansion's front room.

"You got this, baby!" Called Veronica to her girlfriend through all the hooting and hollering.

We were locked in an arm wrestle, and I watched the veins in her arms bulge out roughly, her jaw tight as she tried to keep from being beat by me.

I wasn't much better, honestly.

 

I was ready to cry, my arm was burning, and I had a headache.

She was left handed, and we were wrestling with our right hands, so I could only imagine that I would be toast if we were using opposing hands.

I finally gave in, and she sent my hand falling back so hard that my knuckles cracked the oak wood of the table.

Everyone cheered as Lulu won, howling and hollering in excitement, and I chuckled.

"Eh, don't worry, Lulu is really hard to beat." Winked Kevin, "She once beat the minotaur in a wrestling match." He shuttered. "I still remember the earthquakes he caused because he was so angry."

"But I stood a chance against a super jacked, super ripped werewolf!" I cheered, and called out, until I was cut off my the feeling of Toni's presence behind me. She was leaning against the arch to the hallway, a small, satisfied smile on her face.

"Impressive, Red." She winked, and I blushed before pulling my sweater back over my arms.

"What brings you over here?" I asked Toni, and she shrugged.

"This is my family, so I spend a lot of time here, usually. But I actually came to talk to you and Kevin about something I noticed."

"What is it?" Inquired the suited warlock, startling me when he came up out of nowhere.

"Last night, Cheryl was conjuring her room up, and she conjured up some trees. I thought they were plastic at first, but something happened." Toni informed, and I rose a brow. Kevin snapped his fingers, and we were in my room. I looked around, and there were vines everywhere, wrapping up the walls and around the legs of the piano.

"Fascinating." Kevin whispered, ducking under the tree to lift the vine with his finger. "I need to talk to Betty."

...

"This is from a witch?" Asked the Nymph, and I nodded. "Huh," she exhaled, looking at the branches intently. "I don't think so." She shook her head, looking up at Kevin with a look I couldn't gage. "This is a Nymph's plant." She assured.

"Nothing else should be able to grow plants to this extent. Most of the magic involving plants has to do with using them for potions, so what could it possibly mean? Is this tribrid a Nymph, Betty?" He asked, and the blonde looked lost.

"I don't know."

"We should talk to Tate. He'll know what to do." Toni insisted, and Kevin sighed.

"You're right." He assured. "Time to take a trip to Tate's."

Another snap later, we were sitting in the middle of a diner. It looked like something out of the seventies, neon lights and retro looking booths, and a jukebox in the corner.

"Good morning, Kids." Boomed a kind voice from behind the counter, an equally kind smile to match.

"Morning, Pop." Smiled Toni as she sat at the counter, just in time for him to set a chocolate shake in front of her. She smiled and took a sip from the straw.

"How did you make that so fast?" I inquired, dumbfounded.

"I hear everything, Cheryl." He assured, and my eyes widened when he had said my name.

"Don't worry, Cheryl." Laughed Kevin. "Pop Tate is an oracle. He's the one who prophesied you."

"Oh." I exhaled in relief, before Pop turned around and grabbed a shake for me. "Cherry Malt." I hummed upon taking a sip. "Thank you." I smiled around my straw, and Toni met my eyes for a moment, and I didn't understand why.

"We need your help." Kevin chimed, leaning across the table and holding out a hand to Pop, who laid his hand over it and closed his eyes. He inhaled and held his breath for a moment before letting it out, and suddenly, all the lights in the restaurant flickered, none of the patrons bothered by it, not in the slightest.

He opened his eyes, and they were glowing a bright blue. He didn't blink, or even move at all, he just spoke.

"You seek answers that can only be answered by the soil that bear the seed before it blossomed into a beautiful flower."

"That was cryptic."

"Shh!" Whispered both Toni and Kevin, and I put my drink to my lips to shut myself up.

"The journey will not be easy. You will be forced to face things you fear most, and let go of the things you once loved. Your world will fall apart, inevitably, but it will be worth it in the end, once you've found a new world to make your own. Your strength will grow tenfold, should you succeed."

Pop closed his eyes, and the lights turned back on when Pop opened them, showing his normal brown eyes.

"Kevin, can I talk to you in private?" Asked Pop Tate, and Kevin nodded, pressing down the lapel of his blazer before walking around the counter and walking back into the kitchen.

"What does that mean?" I asked, turning to Toni, whose eyes seemed to be going at a million miles an hour, tracing over the cracks in the wooden counter.

"I think it means we need to talk to your mom. But I also think it means we have to make a longer journey than just your mother." She admitted.

"Why is it that I've only heard of Oracles talking in riddles?" I inquired, and she shrugged.

"The future isn't set in stone," Toni explained, "it's not like he can tell you everything you'll do, up to every mistake or misstep, because time doesn't work like that. And he can't tell you exactly what will happen, exactly when, because if you do, it could make you go insane."

"Trust me," I laughed, "nothing makes me feel more insane than I have these last two days." I mumbled as Kevin came out of the kitchen.

"We need to get together a team to go with you on your voyage." Kevin said suddenly, fixing his tie before gesturing for us to follow him out of the diner. "Toni, I assume you're going?"

"Oh yeah," she said with certainty, "and I want to take Veronica and the Leatherbelly triplets, as well as Fangs." She demanded, and Kevin rose a brow.

"You want to have five wolves in a trip?" He asked, and Toni shrugged.

"When we camp, we'll need sharp noses and ears." She justified, and it was my turn to raise a brow.

"Wait, camp?" I asked, "Why don't we just snap there?" I asked.

"Three reasons," Toni answered, "The first one is that it's impossible for one witch to fuse somewhere with more than two other beings. Number two, our powers are monitored in the non-magical world, by old governing witches, and three, our powers aren't as strong as they are here. So we need to preserve them. You can do little spells, like changing clothes, and casting little charms, but other than that, we have to lay low." She informed.

Those are all really good reasons.

"Cheryl, is there anyone else you'd like to go with you?" Kevin inquired, and it took me a moment to think of someone else.

"U-uh, Josie and Jason." I requested, and Kevin hummed.

"I won't be able to go with you, as I have business here to attend to, but I suggest you bring one more, just so you have a nice, round number, that way everyone will have someone, and nobody will get hurt." He smiled, and I shrugged, looking to Toni.

"I know just the person."

...

"Remind me why I was asked to go on this trip again?" Asked a broody man in a gray beanie, with a long pointy nose and a hunched back.

"I need another set of magical hands, a set that won't be detected." Toni mumbled to the man as she guided him past a tree, to an opening where the other eight of us waited.

"Cheryl, this is Jughead. Jughead, this is Cheryl." She smiled, standing between us. He looked down at me for a moment, a frown on his face.

"You don't feel like a witch." He rose a brow.

"Yeah," I grumbled, "I get that a lot."

"Alright, join hands." Josie demanded, taking Jason's hand, as well as Lulu's who grabbed Veronica's. Joaquin, Sweetpea, Fangs and Jughead all joined hands, and I met hands with my brother, and Toni. "Close your eyes, and allow Cheryl to take over. Cheryl, get us somewhere without people, where we can materialize without scaring someone." She asked, and I hummed, searching for something in my memory, eventually coming up with the old site we used to camp at when we were kids, just a few miles away from the bridge I fell asleep at the two nights before this one.

I felt the wind blow, and open my eyes to see exactly what I remembered, a flat patch of leaves under the full moon. I let go of my brother and companion to look around, catching the lip of the woods to see the bridge a ways away.

"Great job, Cheryl." Grinned Josie, and I harrumphed.

"I didn't expect to be back here so soon." I admitted. "I mean, I was gone for less than forty eight hours, and here I am, staring at the same bridge I fell asleep under." I scoffed.

"Why were you sleeping under a bridge?" Jason asked, and I sighed.

"Mom kicked me out because I didn't want to find a stupid husband to fulfil her image of the company." I admitted, and Jason turned his nose up.

"That's no reason to kick someone out." He scoffed, placing his hand over my shoulder, causing me to pull away in distaste.

"I do not need your sympathy, Jj." I said coldly, and I watched his eyes go wide in confusion. "I asked you to come because our parents are more likely to let me in the house if you're there." I lied, and he looked down sadly.

"I'm sorry." He whispered.

"I told you, I don't need your sympathy." I repeated before turning to walk away from him, only to notice there were three little tents set up in a triangle, a little pile of wood in the middle of it.

"Hey, Red!" Called Sweetpea, and I rose a brow to Toni, who shrugged from her place by one of the tents.

Where did we even get tents?

Oh, right.

"You can sleep with Tiny." He winked, and I rose a brow to Toni, who was looking away from me.

"We're already gonna camp? Why didn't we just wait to go until morning?" I inquired.

"The governing witches are less likely to feel magic at night, rather than during the day." Toni explained, crossing her arms over her chest as she leaned against the tent, not knocking it over..?

"Alright, let's get to bed." My brother chimed, looking around at the wolves as they shifted before my eyes, a completely solid gray Lulu, a brownish/gray Fangs, and the twins who were identical, but had grey and white fur. They all curled up together by the fire and got comfortable as Toni crawled into the tent closest to me.

I ducked in, and looked around, disappointed when I noted it wasn't a lot bigger than it looked, much like Toni's room and the entire hybrid house in general.

"Extension charms weren't necessary for tonight, considering the fact that we don't plan on staying for very long." Toni explained from where she sat, in the corner of the tent, holding a warm, fuzzy blanket in her lap. "I uh... I guess it gets really cold out here in December, so..." She rose the blanket up to me, and I took it from her, lying down against the pillow closest the front of the tent. She waved her hand out of the tent toward the wolves.

"What was that?"

"Cloaking spell." She said shortly, "So non magical people won't walk by and see four massive wolves sleeping on the ground... or more so they don't see a pretty girl sleeping in the embrace of one of those massive wolves on the ground." She chuckled, and I rose a brow before looking at the gray kanine, realizing there was a head of raven hair under the blanket covering her stomach area.

"They really love each other, huh?" I asked, and she chuckled, lying back, as far from me and close to the tent wall as possible.

"Oh yeah. Veronica was in a really bad situation here in the non-magical world until Lu sniffed her out while we were on a mission, and saved her from an abusive father who was using her speed and strength to rob banks and kill people he didn't want to interfere with his business." She divulged. "Needless to say that when Hiram Lodge went searching for his daughter in the woods of North Montana, nobody really thought twice about the reports of him being attacked by a bear." She winked, and I shook my head in confusion.

"Hiram Lodge, like, the guy from the history books? The mobster?" I inquired.

"Bingo." she snapped and pointed at me.

"H-how old are Lulu and Veronica?" I asked, causing her to raise a brow at me.

"What year is it?"

"Two thousand twenty two." I divulged, and she snorted.

"Well, Veronica was born in nineteen forty two, and we went to go find her in fifty eight. So if we're going based on human time, she's eighty. But our time doesn't work the same. I can't really explain how it works, but if we went based on our time, we went and rescued Veronica three years ago." She explained. "I mean, for all we know, an entire month could've passed while you were in Riverdale for those two days." She shrugged, lying flat on the floor of the tent, looking at the top of the tent and lying her hands flat on her stomach.

It was silent for a few minutes as we Iaid in the tent silently before I sat up and pulled the pillow over, closer to Toni. I scooted closer to her, moving my head to the left of the pillow so she could have room to lay her head on the right. I pulled the blanket over her body, and she turned her head to look at me, her eyes faltering into a smile for a moment, before scooting closer and taking the blanket over herself as well, her head taking the other half of the pillow.

It was awkward, considering the fact that I was much taller than her, but somehow, I felt at ease enough to fall asleep, and that means one thing; she felt at ease enough to fall asleep as well.


	5. Quattor

"Why couldn't we get a Lyft or something?" Complained Josie with a grunt as she walked in the back of the group, and Toni rose a brow over her shoulder at the woman.

"We'd need like three Lyfts for all of us." She pointed out, "It's good for both you and the environment to just walk." She assured.

"Here, Josie, get on my back." I offered, leaning down for the girl to jump up and wrap her arms around my neck, her legs around my waist. I strode up next to Toni, who was leading the pack.

"Won't it be weird if eight strangers follow you guys into your house?" Lulu asked from behind me where she was holding Veronica, for literally no reason, considering the fact that she was nowhere near tired.

"No, because we're just gonna take Josie and Toni." I strategized. "I'm gonna let dad focus on Jason and Josie, and we can talk to mom while he's distracted." I assured as we got to the front gate area. "You guys, just stick around, okay?" I assured, and everyone seemed to be on track, seating themselves on the sidewalk to wait patiently as we walked to the gate. I entered the code, and the gate opened, allowing the four of us to walk in, and up to the front door of our parent's mansion.

"You didn't tell me you were this loaded." Scoffed Toni as she looked up at the gardens and giant hedges that covered our three story house.

"Most rich people are pretentious narcissists, so I don't like to associate with them." I admitted, and she chuckled in time for the door to open.

"Miz Blossom, Mister Blossom." Smiled Smithers, our butler, only, he looked much older than he did just a few days ago. He was just in his early forties, last time I saw him, so I don't understand what could've happened. It really must have been a lot longer than I realized. "You don't seem as though you've aged at all." He said, awestruck as he stepped aside for us to walk in. "Your mother is up in her room if you'd like to speak with her." He offered.

"Where's dad?" Jason inquired, and just then, a loud voice boomed from the den.

"In here, son!" Called my father, and the four of us walked in, noting the old, wrinkly man seated in the chair across the den. "It's so good to see you, Jason." He smiled, reaching a hand out for my brother to shake firmly. "It's been a long time."

Typical Cliff, too hung by his own testicles to admit to his own son how much he's missed him.

Toxic masculinity is one hell of a drug.

"This is my girlfriend, Josie." Jason smiled proudly, gesturing to our friend, who leaned forward to shake his hand, causing him not to move, just to look up to Josie with distaste.

"You're also a twin then?" He asked, his eyes shifting to Toni, who stood beside me, a brow risen. 

"Does he think all black people look the same?" Toni asked me, and I shrugged. "Seriously, because I have literally seen your father as three different versions of racist homophobe in the last fifty years alone." She whispered, and I snorted at her remark, drawing attention to me by Cliff, who glared at me.

"Cheryl." He said with discontent.

"Cliff." I threw back, and his lips moved upward slowly.

"She's got a tongue." He laughed, and I rolled my eyes.

"I'm gonna go talk to mom. C'mon, Toni." I demanded, taking her hand and dragging her up the stairs to the second story, where my mom's room is.

I knocked softly, and heard something faint that I couldn't quick make out, so I turned the knob to the giant door, my eyes grazing across the room that once stood so elegant, so beautiful. Now, it was dark and depressing, the big, round bed in the middle of the room cradling a small, fragile version of what once was a powerful woman.

"Cheryl," Coughed my mother, trying to sit up, causing me to rush to her side.

"Hey, don't try and get up." I requested, and she groaned before lying down again.

"Cheryl, I've missed you so much." The withered old woman muttered, her voice spent, likely from all the coughing.

"What happened to you?" I asked, and she smiled sadly, taking my hand and gesturing for me to sit beside her.

"I assume you've found Riverdale, considering the fact it's been twenty years and you look as you did when you left." She asked, and I nodded, causing her to smile softly. "I knew we couldn't stop you from fulfilling your destiny." She smiled brightly, causing my heart to clench in my chest. "You always were so resilient. Nothing was ever going to stop you."

"Mom, I don't understand, what happened?" I asked, and she smiled, yet again, pressing her lips against the back of my hand.

"I'm hundreds of years old, Cheryl." She smiled, making my brows scrunch together in confusion. "Cheryl, I'm so sorry for being the way I was toward you, but I thought it was better to make you hate me than to let people hurt you." She cried weakly, "I've known you were a beacon since you were born." She sighed heavily, "That's when I decided you and Jason needed to stay in separate rooms, because he was draining your powers." She started coughing, so I reached to the side table to give her the water that was sitting on her table. She hunched over it to take a drink and handed it back to me. "Thank you." She whispered.

"Jason is a non magical being, born from magical parents. That means he has magical capabilities, but nothing to harness his capabilities. Because of this, he was able to subconsciously drain your powers and use them for himself." She wiped tears from her eyes with her wrinkled hand, "I had to keep you unhappy, because with happiness comes your abilities, and I couldn't bare to watch your abilities manifest while your brother was still around. Jason would have been killed if you were able to take your abilities back, and I couldn't bare that."

"I don't understand, I have my abilities now, and Jason is fine." I sputtered, and she shrugged with a sigh.

"Yes, but that's only because your abilities were charged by the magic of another, and by the magic in Riverdale. If your abilities manifest from your magical core, Jason will die, because he's spent his entire life with your powers inside of him." She whimpered, "I couldn't let one of my babies die." I felt my own eyes sting as I fought away a stream of tears.

"I need you to help me, mom." I whispered, my voice quivering, "I need you to tell me what you are." I breathed in sharply, "I need to know what I am. Mom, I'm super strong, and super fast, and I have magic, and I can grow plants from my mind, and everyone says I'm something different, but I know you're the one person who can tell me what I am. Who were your parents?" I asked, and she smiled, reaching up to run her fingers through my hair softly.

"This earth is my mother." She whispered, "I have a deeper connection with her than anyone else, and she's ready for me to join her."

"Please, mom," tears fell down my face at last as my body felt weak. "I can't lose you, I just got you back." I sobbed, and she shook her head at me, placing her her other hand upon my chest.

"I'll always be right here." She smiled, pulling me down to kiss my forehead. "I need you to find the real person who had a hand in creating you. Do what I never could in my years here. Take down the governing witches to fix the imbalance in this world." She requested before turning her head to look at Toni, who stood against the door.

"Come here, my child." She whispered, reaching a hand up for Toni to walk over and take. She locked hands with Toni and closed her eyes, causing Toni's body to jerk violently once. Toni gasped, and I watched as her skin began to glow, her eyes fuzing from brown to gold, back to brown. "Take care of my Cheryl." She demanded, and Toni nodded, causing my mother to smile softly and pull away. Toni blinked, and her skin stopped it's glowing. "I'm sorry that I ever called you deviant," She whispered, "or any of the other things I did, my child," She looked me deeply in the eyes, "you are the single best thing to happen to this planet, and I know that you of all people will be able to fix things, to restore balance in the magical world." She coughed again, and looked up at the ceiling for a moment, a tear falling down the side of her eye as she looked at me through the corner of it. "Please, take me to the garden." She whispered, "I want to be with my mother." I wiped the tears from my eyes and nodded, helping her out from under her blankets so that I could hoist her into my arms. "Your father knows what I am, Cheryl." She whispered, and I knew what that meant I had to do.

"Toni, get my brother and father." I demanded, and she nodded before running out of the room. I carried my mother, bridal style, down the stairs and into the backyard, where the dandelion field was. I laid her on top as everyone came outside, rushing to me as I kneeled beside my mother, who closed her eyes with a smile as she allowed herself to be engulfed by the smell of the earth.

"Mom? What's happening?" Whimpered Jason as he ran up by my side to talk to my dying mother.

"I'm going to be with my mother." She smiled softly, eyes weak hoods, barely able to stay open. She caressed his cheek, "I'm so proud of the man you've become, Jason." She whispered, "Take care of your sister." She requested before turning to Cliff, who was sitting at her other side, holding her hand, his eyes leaking tears as he watched his wife die. "I know they weren't your children." She whispered, "Thank you so much for taking care of my family." She whispered, and he nodded.

"I love you so much." She cried, and she smiled sadly, yet again.

"I know. And I love you." She turned her head to Jason and I again, "Tell your mother I said I never stopped loving her." She whispered, and I felt something in my body studder.

"M-mother?" I asked, but before she could answer, her eyes closed, and it was almost as though I could feel her soul leave her body.

Then, instead of feeling all of the fear, and pain, and love, and loss, I just felt pain.

I wasn't feeling her emotions anymore, because my mother was dead now.

"Look," Whispered Toni, pointing to my mother's now open, limp hand that laid on the ground beside Cliff. From it was growing something green, much like when I watched Betty grow the flower from her hand. It grew, and suddenly, roots began to tie around my mom's ankles.

"No, we have to stop it-" My panic was calmed by Toni's hand on my shoulder.

"This is supposed to happen." She whispered, looking down at me sadly, and I let out a shaky breath before turning to look at my mother, who was sinking into the ground, grass growing from her skin.

I felt my body shake as I began to sob, watching the mom I always wanted, sink into the ground and face her fate.

At least she finally got to be with her mother again.

I turned to Jason, who was crying, and wrapped my arms around him, sobbing enough for the both of us as a beautiful patch of dandelions grew over my mom's body.

"Dandelions were always her favorite," Cliff whispered, "She said that they were full of a bright new future, that they promised something better than now." He smiled sadly as he sat with the flowers. "If you kids need anything to get home, I'd be happy to help." He assured, and I couldn't think of anything else other than the pain I was feeling in that moment.

He must be feeling the same way. It must be why he suddenly abandoned his whole demeanor of "disapproving racist homophobe."

He really loved my mother.

One of them, anyway, considering the fact I just found out that I have two.

Now we knew what we had to do next.

...

"I can't believe she's gone." Whispered Jason from where he sat beside me in the used car dealership.

"I spent so long wishing the world would swallow her whole, but now that it has, I just want her back." I cried, and he sniffled, rubbing my back softly, until I was approached by the car salesman.

"Alright." He smiled, giving me a key with a pink fluffy die as a keychain. "She's all yours." She smiled, and I sighed before walking outside to grace the new vehicle.

"I can't believe we had to take a bus all the way to Washington just to find someone who has a Volkswagen Bus that isn't completely destroyed." Scoffed Lulu as she looked at the bright red paint of the bus, and I sighed before walking up to it and unlocking the doors.

"I'll drive." Jason insisted, taking the keys from me and getting in the driver's seat.

The bus had an ugly looking seat in the back, but it stretched back to the length of the bus, and there was just enough room for us to all fit.

Sure, we could very well put an extension spell on it, but Jason said he wouldn't be able to drive if he couldn't see the back window directly, so we decided we'd only use the extension spell when we wanted to sleep.

"Where are we even gonna start looking for your guys' mom?" Sweetpea asked from where he sat in the corner of the bus, and Jason looked at us through the mirror.

"I have an idea."

 

This is what the bus is supposed to look like.


	6. Peici

"Good morning sleepy heads..." I heard a soft voice from beyond the veil of sleep, and began to stir, "Good morning..." Hummed the voice, and I forced my eyes open to look up and see a pair of icy blue eyes looking back at me with an amused expression. I looked around me, noting the weight on my waist before looked to it, noticing a tan arm around it. I turned my head, confused to see Toni's face burrowed in my shoulder, her legs curled up against my back.

"Wait, didn't she fall asleep on the other side of the van?" I asked, pointing a ways away, by where Jason was nearest the front of the charmed bus.

"Well," shrugged Lulu before pulling Veronica against her softly, "you know what they say about hybrids; they gravitate toward what makes them feel most comfort, even if it isn't consciously."

"Oh, of course another hybrid would make her feel comfortable." I shrugged, turning in her arms to curl against her more closely.

"I'm pretty sure you're way past hybrid, girl." Scoffed Veronica, and I rolled my eyes, choosing to keep myself curled against the warm girl beside me.

"Wake me up when everyone else wakes up." I requested.

"But Lulu's hungry." Veronica argued.

"Why do you need me to get something to eat?" I asked, my voice harsh after having been woken up.

"We can't just walk up to the nearest town and leave you guys." Lulu justified, causing me to groan and uncurl from the warmth of Toni's embrace.

"Hm? No, come back." Mumbled Toni, moving toward me as I moved away, taking my waist to pull me against her again.

"Lulu's hungry," I mumbled, and she yanked me close to her, moving my entire body over with ease, before laying her head on my shoulder. She held out her hand, and from it conjured an apple, which she threw at Lulu.

"I hate apples." Lulu complained, passing the fruit off to her girlfriend, who buffed it with her breath, then sank her teeth into it.

"If you were hungry, you'd eat what you could get, Lucille." She glared, and Lulu grumbled, leaning against the wall of the van with a pout.

"We really should get going if we want to find this guy before dark though, Toni." I whispered, and I felt her body sigh as she reluctantly let go of me and rolled up into a seated position.

"Alright, peasants!" Shouted Toni, causing three of the six to awaken. "It's time to go talk to this Reggie guy Jason knows." She complained, waiting for everyone to sit up before waving her hand, causing the walls of the bus to close into their normal form, the blankets and pillows all being laid neatly in place.

"Y'know, I'm never awake during the day." Complained Jughead as he adjusted the sock of a beanie on his head and laid as far to the back of the bus as possible, pulling the fabric over his eyes.

"Boohoo." Grunted Toni as she sat closer to the front of the bus.

"Does that mean we can stop for something to eat?"

...

"Who knew nothing would be different in twenty forty?" Hummed Josie as she looked around at the cars that all looked to be the same as they were in twenty twenty two, only electric. The air seemed much more polluted, even up in Canada, where it was supposed to be fresh and crisp.

"Alright," Smiled Josie from across from me, holding her hand out between us, palm faced up. "Think of something that makes you happy," she advised me, "put your hand out, and picture something linked to it. Now, picture it in your hand." She grinned, closing her eyes, then her fist, opening it to reveal a white rose.

"I-I thought witches couldn't grow flowers." I said, awestruck, causing her to smile, and hand the rose to me.

"I didn't grow it, I picked it." She winked, and I smiled, pulling the rose to smell it softly. "Now, try it."

I closed my eyes, and opened my hand, wracking my brain for something. Some semblance of happiness, when a memory hit me.

"Cheryl, stop, let me catch up!" Called Heather, my closest friend as a young girl, dropping peaches out of her basket behind her as she ran around the garden, dragging the big container behind her as she went.

I was laughed, and squealing when I made it to the hammock, leaning against it as I ran up and bouncing off of it, onto the ground, colliding with the curly haired girl and falling into a heap of giggling limbs.

We were laughing so hard that I could feel her body shaking against my own before she untangled herself from me. She grabbed her toppled basket and pulled it against one of the two trees, where she leaned her back against. I followed her and laid my head on her shoulder while she pulled out two peaches, wiping it off on her big blue dress before handing it to me, then pulling a book from the basket. We bumped our peaches against each other before taking a bite at the same time, giggling as we chewed with our little mouths.

"'The police station was a small greystone building, sandwiched between two houses built at the turn of the century.'" She stopped reading from the ninth grade book she stole from her big sister's room a few weeks prior, just before we started reading it, a chapter at a time together.

We were only nine and ten, so it was a little hard to understand, but she was really smart for an average ten year old, so she would always read each paragraph, then wait for me to clarify something.

It was our Sunday routine. Our families would have brunch together, and our parents would talk business while her younger brother would play with my brother, and we would pick peaches from the tree before taking them to read under the cherry tree together.

I opened my eyes, and was upset upon coming across and empty hand, only for my eyes to stray to the side, where a neat little basket stood, filled with fresh yellow peaches.

"Wow," I laughed, reaching down to retrieve one of the peaches when I saw something under it.

It was a copy of Castaways of the Flying Dutchman. It was the book we were reading that afternoon.

I looked at it, and felt a tear stream down my cheek as I recalled the times I spent with my first beloved.

It wasn't until this moment that I noticed Toni sitting beside me, her hand on my knee. She looked down at her hand and ripped it away suddenly.

"I-I'm sorry, I couldn't resist." She sputtered, and I shook my head, tossing the peach to Lulu, who caught it immediately, taking a bite out of it and humming in satisfaction.

"It's okay." I chuckled, looking down at the book, running my fingers over the bumps on the cover of it. "I'd use my powers if I could control them too." I chuckled sadly, and she took my hand over the book, causing me to look up at her.

"We'll figure out how to get your powers back to you, I promise." She smiled softly, looking me in the eyes deeply. I felt my heart clench in my chest, and the pit of my stomach flutter.

That was what Toni was feeling, obviously, because I never got butterflies before.

"It doesn't seem that easy." I sighed, looking back down at our hands.

"It isn't, I promise." She chuckled, "but that doesn't mean we won't try really really hard." She leaned her head against my shoulder, making my eyes close in satisfaction.

"So uh... can I have one?" Asked Fangs from the other side of the bus, flashing me a rigid smile, to which I chuckled, grabbing a peach and tossing it to him.

"Jay, you want one?" Toni asked the driver, who hummed, barely audible.

"Two please." Requested Josie, who was holding her boyfriend's hand as he drove.

...

"Hey, can we talk?" I asked Jason, walking to sit in the front seat to address him.

"What is there to talk about?" He mumbled, and I rolled my eyes.

"I'm an empath, Jj. I know for a fact that you're upset over mom's death. Let's talk about it." I requested before it went silent between us.

"I don't wanna talk about it." He muttered finally.

"Look, I know you're upset, I am too-"

"Yeah? How could you be upset? You said yourself that you wished she was dead before. So how could you possibly know what I'm feeling?" He snapped, and I rose a brow.

"Are you seriously asking me that?" I inquired, causing him to scoff. "Jason, I lived my entire life thinking that nobody loved me." I pointed out, "I was emotionally abused for TWENTY years, and because of it, I was robbed of my own abilities, so I'm running off of someone else's." I felt my chest quiver in anger, "I had ten minutes of time with a mother who loved me before she died, and you had eighteen years before YOU left her, the woman who showed you love and care." Tears were streaming down my face, and I watched his eyes shift to me, softening as he assessed me.

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't think of it like that, I-"

"You what? You only thought of yourself? Yeah," I chuckled sadly, "obviously."

"I'm so sorry, Cheryl." His throat tightened, and I rolled my eyes, crossing my arms over my chest as I looked over my shoulder at the passing trees, covered in snow as it steadily moved from beside us to behind us. "I just don't understand why it is that they made it so you wouldn't have powers, and not me as well." He sighed, looking on out of the windshield.

"Jj, about that-"

"Stop!" Shouted Sweetpea suddenly, running to the door of the bus and waiting for it to slow in enough time for him to jump out and faze into a wolf. Lulu, Fangs and Joaquin all followed, running around the front of the car, into the woods to the left. Jughead got up with a goran and ran after them, running surprisingly fast for what I assumed to be a warlock.

"What happened?" I asked.

"They smell Reggie." Answered Josie, and I hummed.

"I'll go help too." Sighed Veronica, followed by a brisk wind and a blur past our car.

We waited in complete silence for five minutes, awaiting the return of the four wolves, vampire and warlock.

"I think that means I have to go too." Sighed Toni, standing up and removing her jacket, getting ready to phase when we saw a gray wolf walk out in front of the bus, looking behind her to show everyone walking calmly behind the pack. A handsome man emerged from the trees, and my eyes widened when I noticed the bottom half of his body.

He had hooves, and a shiny black coat of fur over the back end of his body.

"A centaur." I exhaled in disbelief, and Jason chuckled before getting out of the car to greet the man.

"Hey, man." He smiled, locking hands and bumping fists with him.

"Reggie used to have a huge crush on Jason." Josie divulged, and I rose a brow. "I told you, sexuality is very fluid in the magical world." She chuckled, "Sure, a horse and a human sounds weird, but it's less unheard of than you think. The only thing we limit ourselves to when it comes to love is whether the creature can think for themselves."

"In other words, no wild animals, pets or children." Toni reiterated.

That was nice to know.

No straights?

Love that.

"Let's go see what's up." Toni suggested, pulling me up and out of the vehicle by my hand.

"I don't know a Penelope Blossom." Divulged the centaur, scratching the back of his head.

"Can I show you what she looks like?" Asked Toni, and he crossed his strong arms over his shirtless chest.

"I don't see why not."

"Come here, Cheryl." She demanded, pulling our hands so we were close to him. She took his hand and instructed me to do the same. "Close your eyes, and we're gonna show him a memory of your mother when she was young, because that was likely the last time any magical being saw her." She instructed, and I nodded, closing my eyes and looking back to one of the few fond memories I had of her.

"That sounds awful, honey." Chuckled my mother as she walked around the piano to sit on the bench with me, stroking the low keys expertly. "Try this," she offered, alternating her fingers between a white key and two black keys, playing a pretty melody that made my close my eyes and revel in the sound of it gracing my ears. "Here, you try." She nudged, taking my hand and playing they keys over my fingers. I opened my eyes and watched, moving my fingers in time with hers until I made it right.

"Where did you learn how to play?" I asked, and she shrugged.

"My love taught me."

"Daddy can play piano?" I asked, and she simply chuckled before continuing to strike the keys.

I began to play, giggling with her as I struck the incorrect keys.

This time, I remembered something suddenly, a little red spark coming from my fingertip as I played, and sound started coming from the piano without any playing. I watched my mother raise her hand, stopping the noise and affectively confusing me when she cleared her throat and stood up from the bench.

"You're horrible." She insulted, "You'll never be good at it, ever. Might as well stop now so you don't embarrass yourself."

I opened my eyes as my mother stormed away with tears in her eyes, and I was confused.

I don't remember ever having made the music play, or her teary eyes. What was going on?

"She seemed so much sweeter, and kinder when I last saw her." He exhaled sadly, and I sighed.

"So you recognize her?"

"Yeah, but I always knew her as Penelope Smith." He admitted, "She was mated with an elder, Alice Smith."

"You're joking," laughed Toni, and he shook his head.

"They're the two responsible for the initial rebellion." He divulged, "I can take you to her, actually." He offered, and I rose a brow.

"I don't think you'll be able to fit in the bus." I assumed, and he chuckled.

"Go get a blanket to sit on, I'll give you a ride."

...

"I can't feel my face!" I screamed over the sound of both the bus engine roaring behind us and the clacking of Reggie's hooves against the ground below us.

"It's really cold up here around this time of year!" Chuckled Toni in my ear from behind where she was holding onto my waist, as I was Reggie's. She snapped her fingers, from where they were, in front of my abdomen, and suddenly, my face was half covered by a scarf, my head and ears by a beanie.

It was uncomfortable, my backside was very uncomfortable, I was cold, and my cheeks were numb from both the cold and the constant shaking and vibrating of four hooves beneath us. I also hated heights, and we were about eight feet higher from the ground than I'd like to be.

Suddenly though, Reggie began to go downhill, showing us a little village of tents, people walking and children running around them. He slowed to a stop, his fists bracing against his hips as he looked out at it.

"We're here!" He said excitedly, turning to the bus, that has stopped at the road a few feet back. "We'll have to walk down from here!" He shouted to everyone, causing Fangs and the triplets to file out and phase into their forms, bounding down the hill, Veronica running by their sides effortlessly. Jason took Josie in his arms before running closely behind them, followed by Jughead, who was running fast, but nowhere close to the speed of the wolves or Jason and Veronica. The way he was kicking his feet up behind him as he ran was interesting, almost like a horse.

Reggie kicked off the ground, and it was two minutes before we were dismounting and walking with our group, who was just beyond an arch that marked the entrance of the little village.

"This is Camp Sweetwater." Reggie grinned, walking ahead of us and gesturing for us to follow him to a large white tent. "Elder Alice." He said in a normal tone, and the flap holding the tent's privacy moved to the side, revealing a pair of deep blue eyes, that widened as soon as they grazed me. A blonde woman, the one behind those eyes stood up and walked through the opening to the tent, her jaw slack, arms out as she reached up to take my face.

"My child." She whispered, her voice and hands shaky as she looked at me deeply. "You've found me." She chuckled through a sob, tears falling from her eyes, that shifted behind me to Jason. "Oh, my son!" She cried, gesturing for him to come close, and she hugged us both tightly. She pulled away from our rigid forms before turning to look around, I could feel the hopefulness through her as she searched nearby. "Your mother, where is she?" She asked excitedly, and Jason and I met eyes before looking down sadly.

"I'm sorry, she..." Jason trailed, and I felt her heart clench through mine.

"No..." She whispered, her hands coming up to her lips as she tried to fight back tears. "God, I-I'm so sorry." She sobbed, and Reggie interveigned.

"They just found out who you were today." He divulged, "Cheryl didn't even know she was magical until a few days ago."

"Oh?" She asked, raising a brow before opening the tent to invite us in. "Come in." She smiled.

"I'm gonna show them around." Reggie offered as Toni followed Jason and Josie inside.

The tent was big on the inside, a wicker couch on the side, atop a brown fur rug. There were lamps and candles, and it felt very Boho.

"I heard through the grapevine when you were born that one of you was non-magical." Alice informed, seating herself on a chair facing the couch, where we all sat ourselves. "I just thought it was Cheryl who didn't have abilities, because I didn't feel much when I looked at her." She chuckled, and Jason rose a brow in confusion.

"Wait, but Cheryl's been showing magical signs since she was little, I don't understand how that works." Jason shook his head in confusion, and Alice rose a brow.

"That doesn't make any sense." She chuckled, "The only way that would work is if one of you were a beacon, and-" She stopped talking, and her eyes widened, her lip quivering in realization. 

"Cheryl." She exhaled.

"Yeah, I'm a beacon." I shrugged, not understanding what the deal was, when Jason's head snapped my way, eyes wide.

"Wait..." He whispered, looking up and gasping. "I wasn't supposed to have abilities?"


	7. Sitta

"I wasn't supposed to have abilities? S-so that means that I'm the reason Cheryl doesn't have her abilities." He whimpered, dropping his head between his hands with guilt. "I-I stole her abilities and left her to be abused and neglected while I was living her life." He whimpered, and Alice sighed, walking over to lie her hand on his back.

"My, you're in so much pain." She groaned, her brows scrunched together, eyes closed. "It's okay, Jason." She whispered, "Everything is going to be fine. We just have to find a way to give Cheryl her abilities back." she said sincere my, running her fingers through his short red locks to calm him.

"What if I don't want them back?" I asked suddenly, recalling what it is my mom told me on her deathbed.

"Why wouldn't you want them?" Chuckled Alice, and I shrugged.

"I went my whole life without them, I can go the rest of the way with what I have."

"Sweetie, it doesn't work that way." Chuckled the woman, whose hair framed her face beautifully, a braid across the back, much like Betty, the Nymph from Riverdale, a flower in her hair. "When someone lends you their power, it's like a battery that loses its juice the more it's used, and one can only lend their powers once in their life, or else it makes them weak." She divulged, "You'll be the one without powers for your entire life, and your brother's power will drain out completely without your beacon to keep them intact."

"So, what you're saying is that Jason has to lose his powers, no matter what?" I inquired, and she sighed sadly.

"I'm afraid so." She turned to address my brother, "but, because of the magic running through your veins, no matter how minutes, you're still eligible to stay here at Camp Sweetwater, and your blood is sacred enough to be let into Riverdale. That city will let anyone descendant of Penelope or I in, no matter what, as we've designed."

"Wait...." I shook my head, rubbing my eyes in confusion. "You're the two people? The witches who built Riverdale?" I inquired, causing her to chuckle.

"The only part of that story that is false is the fact that we're witches." she informed, "We're much more than that." She winked.

"What does that mean?" Inquired Toni in confusion, and she simply winked.

"The three most powerful beings on this planet, are in this room." she divulged, causing Jason and I to lock eyes shockingly. "Listen," Alice sighed, moving to seat herself back at the chair across from us, "your mother and I lead the rebellion together, and fell in love." Her eyes lit up in mention of my mother, "we were ready to settle down in Riverdale after we had won, but the governing witches put a curse on us, stopping the two of us from ever entering the gates to Riverdale again." A tear fell from her shining blue eyes as she looked far off, as though remembering everything in an instant.

"Your mom was already pregnant with the two of you, and my daughter from a previous courtship was left in Riverdale to be raised by others like her. Something you should know about love is that it creates a magical bond, even between non magical creatures if it's strong and bright enough. And to be broken from the person your soul is bonded with makes you physically weak.

"When I found out that the governing witches were tracking magic, I knew that there was no way I could be with Penelope, because my love for her was so strong that they would find our magic. So, I left, and that's very likely why only one of you got abilities, because your mother had a broken heart, and her abilities were stunted." she sighed looking down at her fidgeting hands. "I wish I could've been there for you two through everything." She whispered, and I had to swallow the lump in my throat.

"You did what you had to do." I nodded, standing up and walking to her, my hand extended, "may I?" I inquired, "I'd like to feel what you're feeling, if that's okay."

"An empath?" She smiled, and I nodded. "You must've gotten it from me." I smiled back when she extended her hand to touch mine, and I closed my eyes to tune myself into everything.

I felt it all, the light Penelope bestowed upon her, the love in her heart, the strength they had together, and the pain of leaving, the weakness of staying away.

The pain of losing the woman she loves.

"I lost someone I loved too." I whispered, and I could feel the curiosity in Alice's mind. "Her name was Heather."

"Come find me!" Laughed Heather as she ran away from me in the garden, and I laughed, chasing her across the meadows to our special place. She took a detour today, and was still dropping peaches from the basket, as she had for the past six years, but she was much faster than me now, since she started running track and playing soccer. I giggled when she tripped on the grass by the street and scrambled to pick up the peaches, and the book she had, but just when she went to start running again, I tackled her, causing her to groan.

"Ugh, we're too old to be doing this!" She laughed.

"You're never too old to have fun." I giggled, reaching to the side to grab a stray peach and take a bite out of it, chewing on her face. I lined the fruit up with her lips and she took a bite gratefully, smiling through her full mouth before chewing and swallowing. She reached up for my hair and pulled it down to lock lips with mine, slipping her tongue into my mouth softly.

I pulled away after a beat, looking her in the eyes down below me.

"I love you." I whispered, causing her to smile brightly.

"I love you too." I leaned down to kiss her again, when I heard something behind me.

"I can't believe this!" I heard, and snapped my head over my shoulder to see her mother and father, Huck and Hanna Hornsby staring at us in shock. "Get off of my daughter, you dyke!" She screamed, and I toppled up, pulling Heather up to her feet.

"Mom, it's not what it loo-"

"Shut up, you disgusting little girl!" She screamed, charging at me, causing me to run across the street.

"Mom, leave her alone, it was me-"

"It was you who allowed yourself to be seduced by this loveless clown!" She screamed, and I stopped to turn around, just in time for Heather's mother to slap her across the face.

"Heather!" I screamed, and she turned to me, eyes flashing in horror as she ran my way.

"Cheryl, move!" She screamed, and before I could look, I was being pushed violently.

I got off the pavement with a groan, ignoring the blood falling from my knee as I looked around for Heather, only to find her lying in the middle of the pavement, blood puddling around her head.

"NOOOOOOOO!"

"NOOOOOOOO!" Screamed Alice, snapping me out of my memory, and I opened my eyes to see hers, wide and leaking with tears.

"I'm so sorry you had to go through that." She whispered, letting go of my hand to wipe her tears, then mine.

"D-did you see it?" I asked.

"We all did, Cheryl." Piped Toni from behind me, and I looked over at her in confusion. "It looks like we've unlocked more of your abilities." She smiled, and I exhaled.

"I need to talk to you alone, Alice." I demand, and she nodded.

"Of course." She said solemnly, stepping up and gesturing for me to follow her outside. "What is it, my child?"

"It's about something my mother said." I muttered, my throat tightening in fear.

"What did she say?" She inquired, taking my cheek in her hand.

"She told me that Jason can't live without my powers." I whispered, "She said that because I gave him some of my powers at birth, his heart would stop without the power in his veins to keep him alive."

"Oh, my..." Whispered the elder, who bit her lip in perplexment. "That girl beside him in there, his love?" She inquired, and I nodded, causing her to smile. "It's potent, I can feel it." She said simply, "He loves like your mother did; unconditionally, with the intensity of the brightest star in the galaxy." Her eyes shimmered in mention of my mother, and I sighed.

"I don't see how this is relevant."

"Well, I've told you, love is strong enough to give magic to the unmagical," she reminded, "I think he'll be okay. I think that Jason is surrounded by people who love him, and as long as that remains, he'll be fine. His abilities won't be as prevalent, but he'll be alive and well. And if that isn't the case, he can just stay in Riverdale, because Riverdale is also a beacon of magical energy, so it essentially does the same thing you do." She smiled, causing my worry to fade.

"So, I need to know; what am I? Toni said that beacons are usually hybrids, but I can grow plants from my hands, and make things appear out of nowhere, and I'm super fast and strong. That sounds like a lot more than a hybrid can do." I suggested, and she chuckled, shaking her head.

"Cheryl, you're a beacon. That's what you are, it isn't an ability like telekinesis or pyromancy or memory restoration, it's a type of being so rare, that there's never been one recorded in history." She ran her fingers through my hair softly, leaning up to kiss my forehead. "You're one of a kind. The only one in your lifetime." She grinned.

"I know Vampires are made when a witch and a ghost mate, but what mix am I to have become a beacon?" I inquired, seeking the knowledge to unlock my potential now that I knew Jason would be fine.

"A beacon is the product of two extremely powerful beings who share their love so deeply that it sets and undeniable beacon of power within the soul they are creating." She smiled, "You are the product of the most pure kind of love, and I think that if your mother and I could be together to swell that love into both of you, you'd probably both be strong beings." She smiled.

"What are you two though, really? No games, no riddles." I demanded.

"Your mother is an Elemental. She was created as Earth's first child, brought here to fill the void our earth had when she had to exist alone, aimless, purposeless. Penelope was the single most powerful and selfless being on earth, and drew her powers from the planet." She smiled as she recalled all of the things she loved about my mother.

"I'm a celestial, which means I was born of the stars and sent down here as a gift from the stars to the earth as a token of his love for her." She smiled dreamily.

"When my mother said she was hundreds of years old, I didn't know she meant hundreds of thousands of years." I scoffed, and she rose a brow.

"More like a couple million. The two of us." Alice divulged.

"I don't understand how you're so ageless and she died after millions of years of being okay." I pondered.

"Well, she told the earth that she was ready to leave, so the earth allowed her to age and join her." She smiled, "For me, I'm a shape shifter, so I can look whatever age I want."

"Oh, that explains on how you..." I cut myself off, realizing that this was a strange thing to talk about with one's mother. "How Jason and I, uh..."

"Yes," Alice chuckled, "that's how you and Jason were conceived."

"Gross." My nose scrunched up in disgust, causing her to laugh.

"Let's go back in, okay?" Alice suggested, and I nodded.

"You can all stay here tonight if you'd like," Alice offered, "we have extra tents, and room for you to pitch your own if you'd like."

"Well, I'm sure about five of our friends will probably just curl up outside." Toni grinned, standing up to greet us as we walked in from the cheek pinching cold.

"In this cold?" Alice asked, outraged.

"Four of them are wolves, and one of them likes to sleep against her mate, who's a wolf." I divulged.

"Fascinating. Well, you can help yourself to anything you need, just don't use too much magic, I've tried very hard to hide these people from the witches." She requested. "By the way, I haven't caught your name." She smiled, reaching a hand out to shake Toni's.

"Toni, Toni Topaz." She smiled, "It's an honor to meet you, Riverdale's been my home for years, and I've heard so many stories."

"Is that so?" She rose a brow, "tell me, do you know my daughter? She's a Nymph named Betty, she's blonde, and-"

"I know her," I gasped, and Alice turned to look me in the eyes excitedly. "She gave me a cherry blossom when we first met."

"She knew you were her sister." She smiled. "Cherry blossoms were the flowers she, and I used to pick for your mother to make tea out of when she was pregnant with the two of you." She divulged, and before I could open my mouth to talk, I heard someone running this way.

"Toni, Sweetpea got stuck in the squirrel hole of one of the trees!" Lulu shouted as she stumbled in, and Alice grinned.

"Awe, is Sweetpea your dog?" The five of us all looked at each other for a moment, and I shrugged.

"Kinda."

...

"Thank you for today, Toni." I smiled from my cot on one end of the tent as the moon rose high in the sky.

"No problem, red." She smiled, rolling her sleeping bag out onto her own cot. "You deserve to be happy after so long of being unhappy." She assured as we walked out of the cot, into the night air, where several people sat in the middle of the camp, a fire burning bright as people sat on logs to stay warm. "Sit with me?" She requested, holding her hand out for me to take, so I could be pulled to a free log. We sat together, and covered up in the soft blanket I dragged out with us. Fangs and the triplets all sat together, Veronica seated against the leader of the pack, their hands twined together.

"Can I sit with you kids?" Alice inquired from behind the log, and I nodded with a smile. Once she was seated, Josie, Jughead and Reggie all came up to spend time with us.

"Thank you so much, Alice, for allowing us to stay here tonight." smiled Lulu, and the blonde smiled, waving her off.

"A friend of my children will always be welcome here." She assured, "We're a family here."

"Hey, guys!" Shouted Jason from the arch of the camp, holding up a black backpack.

"Oh, yeah!" Shouted Lulu as she got up to retrieve the bag. She sat back down and dug into it, "I asked Jay to put an extension charm on this bag so I could bring some entertainment." She grinned, pulling a guitar out of the bag, followed by another, followed by a tambourine, a set of bongos and a ukulele.

She passed them all to the sides of her so people could play the instruments around the campfire just for fun.

"Play Wolves." Suggested Toni, seeing as Lulu had a guitar, as well as Sweetpea and Joaquin. Veronica had the tambourine, Josie the ukulele and Jason the bongos.

"Looks like we're sitting this one out." Chuckled Jason to Josie, who put the ukulele down patiently.

There was a simply guitar progression from Joaquin, and Veronica struck her instrument while Fangs and Lulu sang quiet vocalizations.

"I feel the waves getting started, it's a rush inside I can't control," began Lulu as Fangs swayed, clapping his hands in time with Toni, who did the same, "Your eyes keep pulling me in, and I know, I know, I know!" She looked to Veronica with a smile as the girl kept striking her instrument.

Lulu had a nice voice. It was strong and soulful, just like her personality.

"Your friends all talk about me," Sang Fangs, "they say I got no chance at all. Your fire is burnin deep inside my soul, my soul, my soul!"

It was Toni's turn, her voice soft, and graceful as the melody struck my soul at the happy, upbeat song.

"It ain't up for debatin, ain't enough for the taking, you've got the whole world shakin!"

The song got faster, and I felt Toni take my hand as Lulu began to play, and claps began to go around the campfire.

"In the middle of the night when the wolves come out, heading straight for your heart, like a bullet in the dark, one by one, I've gotta take them down, we need to run and hide, ain't going down without a fight!"

Toni was singing happily, swaying side to side with her hands in mine as we danced together like idiots. She spun me around, and I spun her as the wolves all sang, along with Veronica. She hummed, and sang, and giggled in my ear as we danced together happily.

"I wish it wasn't true, but the whole world's tryna get a piece of you," Sang Sweetpea, and Toni took over as the lyrics got slower, as did my movements with Toni.

"And my heart keeps fighting in this battle of fools, gotta make it through, gotta make it through!" Her voice went high into an almost howl that made my stomach do flips, and my spine tingle when the other wolves met her note in a beautiful harmony, down lower. She rocked me in her arms as her voice went up a little, into a beautiful run while Veronica sang the chorus again, turning the melody back into a happy one.

We kept dancing along and singing until the end of the song, and I fell into my place with Toni by my side, a happy laugh falling from my winded lips.

"How can you all sing?" I laughed, and Lulu rose a brow.

"Cheryl, we're wolves. We're gifted with the ability to match pitch with our species." She chuckled.

"I didn't think it'd work as people too." I shrugged.

"It works with everything. It's like the twin bond, only with the three of us, it's stronger, because we're wolves and triplets." Joaquin added.

"I'm a lone wolf." Fangs boasted playfully, and we all laughed, knowing for a fact that he was, quite literally a giant puppy dog.

It was another hour before we retired to our tents, exhausted and getting ready to head off in the morning.

"Hey, Cheryl?" Toni asked, her back to me but her eyes peeking back at me over her shoulder.

"What's wrong?" I asked, turning to face her better, and she shrugged.

"It's cold over here by the door." She informed me simply, and it made me realize what she wanted.

"Especially all by yourself." I said, my voice shaky, and she turned to me.

"Yeah." She said simply, and I laid down, moving over and lifting the blanket up for her. Immediately, she moved her cot over so that it was against mine, before placing both of her blankets over mine and curling up under the blanket, against me, where it was easy to fall asleep.


	8. Seacht

“Toni, Cheryl, get up!” I heard from the distance, pulling me from my sleep, only for me to clamp my eyes shut harder, curling into Toni’s warm embrace for comfort. “Toni, get up!” Yelled Veronica, and Toni groaned, pulling one of the blankets further up our bodies. 

“Toni, the governing army is here!” Lulu yelled, and I was pushed off the cot in a swift movement on Toni’s part. I groaned, moving to get up, only for Toni to turn my way before she left. She grabbed my shoulders and looked me in the eyes deeply. 

“I need you to stay here, no matter what.” She demanded, “Hide, and don’t make a sound.” With that, she turned around and ran outside, not bothering to put her shoes on. I heard growling, and snarling, followed by whimpers, and I crouched down, covering myself with one of the blankets and listening intently. 

I heard things crashing around, and people yelling in the foreground of all the whimpering and growling and snarling. 

“Josie? Josie!” I heard from Jason nearby, followed by the sand crunching under feet, scary close by. “Toni, where’s Cheryl!” I heard from Jason. 

“She’s safe!” 

“Come with us, and nobody else gets hurt!” I heard a deep, unfamiliar voice call, followed by hooves crashing on the ground. 

“Over my dead body, snake!” I heard my mother say, followed by something crashing, and crackling. 

“Cheryl,” I heard Sweetpea call from inside the tent, and I pulled up the blanket to see him. “C’mon, we gotta get you somewhere safe.” He demanded, helping me up, grabbing my jacket while I slipped my shoes on and helping me slide my arms inside. 

“What’s going on?” I asked, and he hushed me. 

“No time now. Run alongside me and don’t look back, okay?” He asked, and I nodded up at the tall boy, watching as he phased into his wolf form. I ran close by as soon as he began to run. I focused my eyes ahead and ran as fast as my body would let me, until we got to the van at the top of the hill, by the bus. He unphased and hunched over for a moment, out of breath from running about a mile in less than forty seconds. 

“What happened? Where’s Jason? Is Toni okay? What about my mom?” 

“I don’t know, but what I do know is that Lucy, Veronica and I are gonna take you somewhere safe.” He sighed as he regained his breath and stood to his full height. “They won’t be able to detect us because wolves and Vampires are a lot harder to track than witches and warlocks.” 

“Where are Veronica and Lucy now?” I asked, just in time for the two to appear beside me, startling me. 

“C’mon, we have to leave now.” Lulu insisted, tossing the fuzzy dice at Sweetpea, who caught it and got in the bus immediately. 

“Wait, we’re taking the bus?” I asked, and Veronica answered as she opened the door to the bus and climbed inside. 

“The allied wolves won’t be able to pick up Lulu and Sweetpea’s scent if we drive, and the rest will be okay. We left Joaquin and Fangs with them so the rest will be safe.” She assured, reaching a hand out to help me in, which I took reluctantly. 

Sweetpea started the engine and drove away as quickly as possible, leaving us on the road, yet again. 

“Was anybody hurt?” I asked, and Lulu looked down to her feet from where she sat close to the back of the bus. “Who got hurt??” I demanded. 

“Jason told us not to say.” Veronica said remorsefully, and I rose a brow. 

“The only two people not here that I care about are Toni and Jason, so that must be it.” I said worriedly, and Sweetpea sighed. 

“Jason got the shit kicked out of him by an allied centaur.” He revealed, and I felt my heart hammer against my rib cage. 

“W-we have to go back!” I demanded, and Lulu rolled her bright blue eyes. 

“This is exactly why Jason said not to tell you, Cheryl.” She sighed. “He’s gotten hurt way worse than that, he’ll be fine, it’s probably just a cut.” She assured. 

“Why did I have to leave?” I inquired. 

“Alice thinks they’re after the beacon.” Sweetpea divulged, looking up at me through the mirror. 

“Why would they be after me?” I asked, scratching the back of my head in confusion. 

“Seriously?” Veronica rose her brow, as though my perplexity was dumb. “It’s obviously because of the fact that they want to harness all the power for themselves, and to use you as a new governing witch.” 

“I’m not a witch though.” 

“They don’t know that. They just see a woman with magical abilities and a stone cold disposition, and that’s you.” Lulu answered. 

“God,” I tucked my head between my knees, covering it with my hands in panic. “How could I let all those people fight my war?” I asked, and Sweetpea sighed. 

“It’s not your fault, man. You can’t help how you were born, and it sucks, but that’s just how it is.” Sweetpea said roughly. “We’ll all be reunited soon enough, but for now, we gotta get you to some friends we have in Ontario.” 

… 

We were in Ontario by the third straight day of driving, only stopping for gas and bathroom breaks, eating fast food. 

It was terrible, the ride and the fast food. 

I slept all day the day after we left Camp Sweetwater because I was so depressed and restless the night before, and the next day was spent crying over everything that’s happened this week, or rather, the past twenty years. 

I mean, just thinking about everything throws me through a loop. 

My moms had to break up to ensure our safety, and my mom married a rich man who knew of her powers just before giving birth to a magical baby, who began giving them to her twin brother the day they were born, preventing her own abilities from manifesting. My mom realized that she had to risk her relationship with me in order to save my brother’s life by abusing me to suppress my magic. 

My brother found out he had abilities, that were actually my abilities, and left me, to go live life in a magical city where he would thrive happily, while I lived in the guilt and pain of losing the person I loved to a terrible accident, all while undergoing more abuse and neglect. 

Now, I found out that I can’t even use my abilities when I get them because I’m being tracked by magical Donald Trump wannabes and, oh yeah, I had to watch my mom die right after finding out that she was the most selfless being on this planet. 

Did I leave anything out?

“We’re here.” Lulu exhaled upon looking out of the window of the bus, officially pulling me out of my head by standing up as Veronica halted it to a stop in front of a quaint little house in a neighborhood that looked peaceful. “Ronnie, baby, go knock, she likes you more than me.” Lulu requested of the vampire, who rolled her eyes before getting up from the couch and getting out, prancing up to the door and knocking. 

“How long will we have to stay here?” I asked, unhappy that I had to leave my brother three days ago when he was injured. 

“As long as it takes for them to get to us.” Lulu assured before grabbing some blankets, and pillows to walk out of the bus. “C’mon, I think you’ll like this woman.” She smiled, gesturing for me to follow her to the door. 

We walked through, Sweetpea trailing behind, when Veronica waved us over from the kitchen table, which was about fifteen feet away from the door, through the small living room. “Cheryl, come meet an old friend of mine,” she smiled, and when I walked into the kitchen, I was met with a bigger woman with freckles. She was taller than me, but still much shorter than Lulu, and her hair looked like it got caught in a weed wacker. “Cheryl, this is Ethel, Ethel, this is Cheryl.” She smiled between us, and I rose a brow at Veronica in confusion. 

“It’s nice to meet you, Cheryl.” She smiled brightly, but it was still off putting for some reason. “Can I get you something?” She offered, and I smiled, just to be polite. 

“No, thank you. Maybe just somewhere to sleep?” 

“Of course, there’s a guest room around the corner.” Offered the taller woman, gesturing with the spatula in her hand toward the opening of the kitchen, around the wallon the other side. 

“Thanks…” I trailed, walking to the guest room and opening the door, noting how bland it was, the hideous floral wallpaper matching the equally as hideous floral bedspread. Seriously, not even my Nana Rose had taste this horrible, and she was completely blind in one eye, may she rest in peace. I sat on the full sized bed, removing my jacket and shoes before kicking my feet up and laying on the lumpy pillow on the right side. 

I missed my brother, and Toni. Hell, I even missed Jughead’s insolent, holier-than-thou, broody act. I miss the lumpy cots and sleeping in tents, and waking up with Toni attached to my side. 

I miss Fangs and Joaquin, and how they bantered like a married couple, even though they’re both too afraid to speak on the feelings they so obviously had for each other. 

I miss Toni’s voice, and Josie randomly touching me to see what I was thinking. I miss my mom. 

God, I miss my mom so much, why did she have to die? Why couldn’t she have stayed just so that I could have good memories with her? 

“Hey,” knocked Lulu from the door, walking in, followed by Sweetpea, who closed the door behind him and moved to sit on the left side of the bed, kicking one of his feet up. “I’m sorry we gotta do this, Cheryl.” Sighed Lulu as she sat in a rolling chair in the corner and pulled herself up to my bedside, laying her hand over mine. “I wish it wasn’t this way.” 

“Well,” I sighed, looking up at the dusty ceiling fan, “it is.” I grumbled. 

“I know, Ethel’s creepy.” Complained Sweetpea, “can I sleep in here tonight? I don’t want her to kill me in my sleep.” 

“Yeah, she is kinda creepy, but she’s the only one nearby we can trust.” Lulu urged, and I sighed with the roll of my eyes. 

“What even is she anyway?” 

“She’s not magical, actually.” Lulu divulged, “She studies wicka, and she came across Veronica on a hunt one night. They’ve been friends ever since.” 

“Veronica must be Ethel’s only friend.” I scoffed, and Lulu dropped her hand on my arm roughly in a scolding manner.

“Be nice, she’s providing us with food and shelter.” 

“Burnt food and leaky shelter.” Sweetpea mumbled, making me let out a cackle. 

“But it’s still food and shelter. Now, be nice, and get ready for bed.” She demanded, standing up and walking out. 

Sweetpea stood up and dug into the closet, pulling out two blankets and a pillow, throwing them on the ground and making that weird poop face he makes when he’s about to phase in a small room. 

“Would you rather sleep on a bed in human form?” I inquired, and I watched the question process across his face from his mind, and he nodded before grabbing the pillow and setting it beside mine. “Shoes off, oaf.” I demanded, looking up at him playfully as he glared and removed his boots to lay under the covers. “No funny business.” I warned, and he scoffed. 

“I’m not into that stuff.”

“Women?” 

“People in general. I’m asexual and aromantic.” He admitted. 

“Oh.” I hummed before looking up at him in silence for a moment. “Do you like to cuddle?” 

“No.” 

My eyes narrowed up at him. 

“Friend cuddles.” 

“No.” 

“Are you just saying that because you’re trying to protect your ego?” 

“Yes.” 

“Okay, so really, do you wanna cuddle?” 

“Yes please.”

… 

“What the hell?” I heard from the door, and opened my eyes to see Lulu looking at us in disgust. 

“It’s a friend cuddle.” Sweetpea hummed sleepily, his arm around my waist, his face in my shoulder. 

“It’s fucking weird.” 

“No it’s not, Lulu, calm down, it’s twenty forty three. Nothing is weird anymore.” I complained after lying back down and closing my eyes. 

“... anyway, I got a call from Toni. They’re all alive, and they’ll be here within the next day or so. Also, Ethel made fried liver.” Her voice twinged in disgust, and Sweetpea groaned against my shoulder. 

“We're people before we're wolves.” He complained. 

“Yeah, but I'm pretty sure she eats that regularly.” Cringed Lulu, and I rolled my eyes under my lids. 

“I'll pass. Just wake me up when Jason and Toni get here.” I mumbled, and Sweetpea grumbled, pulling the covers further over us. 

“How do you think Toni will feel when she walks in and sees Sweetpea cuddling with you?” Lulu asked, and I could imagine her leaning against the door frame when I heard the door hit the wall behind her. 

“Neutral. Toni knows I'm asexual and that Cheryl's a whole lesbian.” Sweetpea responded. 

“And I don't know why it matters, she's not more than just a friend.” I mumbled against my arm. 

“Yeah, but you guys do this thing where you cuddle each other at night, and now you're cuddling with Sweetpea?” 

“Because he smells like her, and I got use to being held by her, so this is the best sleep I've had since you took me away.” 

“Look,” Lulu sighed, and I felt the bed dip beside me, followed by the feeling of a big hand lying atop my ribs. “I know you're upset, but I was just following Jason and Alice's orders. I don't know what any of us would do if we lost you so soon after you came into our lives.” 

“You’d probably just forget me like everyone else did.” I snarked, “Now, please, leave me alone.” 

… 

“Wake up, ugly.” Garbled Veronica, throwing something at me over the blankets. 

“No.” I moaned, cuddling further into the pillow, since Sweetpea left a few hours ago. 

“Fine, since you got to sleep all day, you get to drive tonight.” 

“Drive?” I asked, lifting my head up and looking over my shoulder at a more pale than usual looking Veronica, who stood against the doorway impatiently, her arms crossed over her chest. 

“Everyone’s here.” She divulged, and before I could blink, I was up and standing in the driveway of creepy Ethel’s creepy house. 

“Where’s Jj?” I asked, looking through the dark of the evening for my brother. 

“He’s already laying down in the bus.” Divulged Lulu as she checked a wound on Fangs’ knee. 

I ran up and onto the bus, where Josie, Toni and Jason were all sitting, Jason lying down, covered by many blankets. 

“Thank God you’re all okay.” I exhaled in relief, rushing to hug Toni, who stood up as soon as she saw me. 

I felt all my uneasiness completely fade into the void of forgotten and lost emotions as I was safe in the arms of the woman I so missed by my side for the last four days. 

Toni pulled away from me and looked at me with her nose turned up in disgust. 

“You smell like Sweetpea.” She grunted in distaste, and I rose a brow. 

“You both smell the same.” I retorted, and she rose a brow. 

“First of all, that’s offensive, and second of all, how do you know what Sweetpea smells like?”

… 

“Are you sure you don’t want me to drive, sweetie?” Asked Alice from where she sat beside me in the front seat, and I shook my head. 

“I’ve slept more in the last week than I have in my whole life, I’ll be fine, thanks.” I smiled politely as I looked at the path lit for me by the headlights of the bus. ‘

“Okay, well, I’m gonna go check on your brother then.” She whispered, kissing my forehead before getting up to walk to the back. 

We were headed to New York, where the entrance to Riverdale was, considering the fact that we couldn’t conjure all of us there at the same time, as well as the fact that Jason was too injured to even stand, let alone withstand a trip between worlds. 

We honestly couldn’t fulfill my mother’s wishes with Jason injured, and myself completely powerless. 

“Want some company?” Asked Toni as she walked up and sat down beside me. 

“From you?” I grinned, “Always.” 

“So, do you wanna know what happened?” Toni asked as she pulled her feet up against her chest and covered herself with a fuzzy blanket that we took from my unbothered bedroom back in Greendale. 

“Yeah, that’d be nice.” 

“Well, apparently Alice was right. Love is a form of Magic, and it’s so strong that it was being detected.” She rolled her eyes. “The Governing Army came while we were sleeping and started killing off the villagers until Reggie went to go warn Lulu, who came to warn us.” She sighed sadly, “Reggie was hurt really badly, so Jughead decided to stay back and take care of him until he was well enough for the two of them to travel to Riverdale together. They had other wolves, and vampires, we’re lucky to have all gotten out alive.” She admitted, “I can’t say the same about the village people. Your mother cried for days.” She looked back behind me at the woman before looking back to me. 

“Were you hurt?” I inquired, and Toni scoffed. 

“I’m a giant wolf with magical powers, Cheryl.” She stopped, as though her words answered my question, before adding, “I got punched in the nose by a vampire.” 

“Of course you did.” I chuckled, shaking my head at the woman’s comedic timing. 

“I missed that.” Chuckled the pink haired woman, and I looked at her in the corner of my eye, noting the way she was looking at me as I shifted between her and the road. 

“What?” I inquired, and she reached to take my right hand from the wheel and set it in her lap. 

“Your laugh, your smile, you.” She added the last word as she began to play with the rings in my hand, and I had to turn away completely to hide my blush. 

“I missed you too.” I mumbled, looking up to assess her facial expression, which morphed into one of the softed, sweetest smiles I’ve ever seen. “All I did the four days we were apart was sleep, because I didn’t have the energy to be awake without you there.” I admitted, causing her brow to raise slightly. 

“Yeah? It was the same for me.” She chuckled, “I can’t sleep now.” 

“I guess it’s a good thing we have each other to keep company.” I suggested, and it was silent as Toni brought our hands up to her lips, pressing the skin of my knuckles against her smile. 

I felt something ignite in my chest, something I’d never felt before. It was a fire at the pit of my stomach, only it was cold, and hot, and bone chilling at the same time. I met her eyes, and we got stuck in each other’s eyes for a moment, I watched her lean in, before I realized I was driving, and turned to the road, only to discover it wasn’t there. 

“Uh, Toni, where’s the road?”


	9. Agt

“Man, I always reminded myself a lot of Carlos from Magic School Bus.” Grumbled Sweetpea from where he stood, hunched over the dashboard of the bus as we looked down to the tops of trees. 

“Accidental floating is usually associated with overwhelmingly happy feelings.” Alice divulged, looking at me, “It must’ve been triggered by you, because there’s no way Josie could’ve done it since she was sleeping, and her love is injured, so there’s no kind of dream that could counteract the pain that comes with the fear of your love’s life. And no I can’t feel any magical energy coming from Toni.” She looked between us before smiling brightly. “Cheryl, honey, you have to hone in on that to get back to the ground.” Alice asked of me, and I nodded through my hammering chest. 

“Hey,” Toni called for my attention when she placed her hand over my shoulder to look my in the eyes, “it’s okay, Cheryl.” She smiled, “I know it’s weird to be floating in the air, but it happens to the best of us, okay?” She assured, and I felt my heart become calm, my fingers stopped trembling against the steering wheel as Toni took my hands in hers, making me look her in the eyes. 

“Just focus on me.” She demanded, taking my face in her hands and resting her forehead against mine. 

Suddenly,we were in one of Toni’s memories, only, this one was much lighter, more airy. I looked around and saw that we stood on a balcony under the pale light of the full moon. I was looking at myself from the distance; the version of myself from her memory, one I’d never seen before. 

I was wearing a yellow sun dress and heels, and she was dressed in a burgundy jumpsuit as music played in the background, some song I couldn’t recognize, but it seemed that didn’t matter, because I just wanted to be against Toni. It was evident when I stepped forward, lying my hand into hers so she could spin me around, before wrapping her left arm around my waist as she guided me to dance with her slowly with her right hand laced with mine. She was singing the lyrics to me, swaying in time, and I had a soft, warm smile on my face, one of complete contentment as I allowed myself to float against her in a world that contained only us. 

“I’ve never had this memory before.” I shook my head in confusion before feeling the real Toni take my hand to turn me toward her. She looked me in the eyes and spoke with a sincerity that sucked me into her emotional embrace. 

“That’s because this is a memory of a dream I had the other night.” She admitted before chuckling. “It looks like you have the same ability as me.” She chuckled, “Only, I’ve never been able to see or project dreams.” 

“Y-you dreamt about me?” I asked, and she looked down with a blush. 

“Well, I… yeah.” She chuckled, looking up at me through her lashes. 

Again, I felt myself leaning in to kiss her, the ghost of her breath on my lips. 

“Yeah!” 

“God, finally!” 

We were interrupted by the sound of cheering by everyone in the bus, and I watched Toni’s eyes roll as her throat elicited a frustrated groan before she pulled her forehead from mine. 

Well, at least they couldn’t see what Toni and I were doing. 

Actually, maybe we would’ve actually been able to kiss if they saw the kind of moment we were having. 

“I’m driving.” Insisted Joaquin, asking me to move before getting behind the wheel and starting the car back towards New York. 

“Maybe you should get some sleep.” Alice suggested, “There’s some room in the back if you want your privacy.” She said knowingly, looking between us before sitting in the front seat to keep Joaquin company. 

I sat in the very back on the floor, because the back was usually where we entered from when all the seats were up, so it was always clear, but somehow, I was actually tired now. I put out a blanket and pillow on the ground before curling up and closing my eyes, only to feel someone’s presence beside me. 

“Toni?” I assumed, not bothering to open my eyes. 

“Yeah…” Toni chuckled, making it impossible for me to fight away the soft smile on my face as I lifted the covers for her to crawl in beside me. She curled into my side and laid her head on my shoulder, her body calming me instantly. 

“Thank you.” I said suddenly.

“For what?” She chuckled. 

“Just,” I shrugged, “It’s nice to feel protected by someone who cares about me.” I admitted, before feeling her hand rake through my hair for a moment. 

“How could anyone not care about you?” She asked, causing me to chuckle. 

“A lot of people.” I assured. 

“What?” Toni asked in confusion. 

“You asked how anyone couldn’t care about me.” I reminded, “I said a lot of people.” I chuckled. 

“Of course she can read minds.” She muttered to herself, and I rose my brow in confusion. 

“I can?” 

“Stop doing that!” 

… 

“Hey, Jj.” I sighed as I saw beside my brother as he laid down quietly. I was dreading this, honestly. My brother and I had a strange, awkward relationship right now, with everything. “How are you doing?” I inquired, and he shrugged before removing the blanket from his bare chest to assess the wound, which took my breath away. 

His entire abdomen was black, from his lower chest, trickling down past his pantline. 

“W-what happened?” I asked around. 

“I was struck by a rotting curse.” He sighed, making me raise a brow. 

“What does that mean?” I inquired, and Alice sighed as she walked through the bus to us. 

“It means that Jason could die if we don’t get him to a magically rich location, and since Camp Sweetwater was destroyed, it no longer had the magic we need for him to recover properly.” 

“What?” I asked, not believing my ears, “Why didn’t anyone tell me?!” I shouted in anger, but before I could actually get angry, I felt Jason’s hand fall against mine. 

“I told them not to.” He admitted, his voice weak, eyes hooded. “I wanted them to put on a brave face for you, because I don’t want you to be upset the whole way there.” 

“But I’m your sister, Jason. I deserve to know that you’re THIS injured.” I argued, and he sighed. 

“I know, but I’ve already put you through enough throughout our lives, and it didn’t feel fair.” 

“Jj,” I sighed, taking his hand in mine, “nothing we went through, no fued, no powers are going to stop me from caring about you. You’re my brother, my twin brother, and I’m not going to let you die because of something that happened when we were babies.” I assured, causing him to smile weakly. “Is there any way we can get there faster?” I inquired of my mother, who shook her head. 

“I’m probably gonna die before we get there.” 

“Don’t say that!” I demanded to my brother, who rose a brow at me before looking to Josie, who sat across from us. 

“Of course she can read minds.” He groaned, earning confused looks from everyone around, other than Toni. 

“That’s what I said!” Toni exclaimed. “I think it’s only if she touches people though.” She theorized. “Try reading my mind again, Cheryl.” She asked of me, and I looked at her, trying to deduce what she was thinking, only to come up with nothing. She stood up from the corner and walked to sit next to me, taking my hand in hers. “Now try.” 

I closed my eyes in the silence and listened closely when it came up into my mind.

‘God, she’s so stunning. Oh wait, I have to think about something else in case she can read my mind.’ 

“No, I liked what you were thinking about at first.” I blushed to the girl, who did the same, taking her hand from mine and turning away. 

“Yeah, it’s only when she touches people.” She mumbled bashfully. 

“What was she thinking?” Lulu asked in perplexity. 

“Some people’s thoughts should remain sacred, Lulu.” Smiled Josie from across the bus at the werewolf. “We telepaths learn that in time, and we ensure to respect that. Besides, Cheryl would rather keep that to herself.” She winked at me, and I sighed in relief. 

“Is it normal for people to have more than one weird ability?” I inquired, and Alice shook her head. 

“I mean, we’ve never come across anyone like you, so we can’t be sure what’s normal or not, but for a witch, it’s never happened before. But you’re not a witch, so the rules don’t apply to you.” She winked, and I rose a brow. 

“Does that extend to the whole magic detection thing?” I inquired, and Alice looked at me in question. “I mean, does that mean that the governing witches won’t notice if I make a big spell or something?” 

“I-I honestly don’t know.” She hummed, “We’ll have to test that out when you get your abilities back.”She smiled, and I did so in return, holding Jason’s hand tightly as we continued our ride. 

Fangs was driving now, he and Joaquin speaking amongst each other, the only source of sound besides the sound of the occasional rock hitting the bus’s wheel every once in a while. I let go of Jason’s hand and moved to sit beside Toni on the floor, avoiding the sleeping bodies of Sweetpea, Veronica and Lulu. 

Josie hasn’t been able to sleep since we all joined each other again two nights ago, and the same goes with Alice. 

“We’re supposed to be at the door by sunrise.” Smiled Toni in optimism, and I sighed, pulling a blanket over my shoulders. 

“Well, at least we have that.” I chuckled sadly. 

“Hey, don’t give up hope,” she insisted, placing a hand over mine and looking me in the eyes, “I think you’ll be able to do exactly what your mother wanted. You just can’t give up.” She assured, and I heard her thoughts, clear as day. 

‘I believe in you.’ 

“Thank you for believing in me.” I smiled, and she rolled her eyes, hitting my shoulder playfully. 

 

“Stay out of my dreams, stinky!”   
… 

“Hey, Cheryl, get up, we’re here.” I heard Veronica grumble, and I opened my eyes with a groan, smiling slightly at the feeling of Toni against me before peeling myself out from under her and covering her up more. I stood up and walked out of the bus to look at my brother, who was standing weakly, his arms over Joaquin and Fangs’ shoulders as they readied to bring him between the two trees that made an archway in the middle of the woods, where we were parked. 

“You’re gonna be home.” I smiled at my pale, tired looking brother, and he rose his brows in wonder. 

“You’re not coming too?” He whimpered, trying to walk forward, but I put my hand out in front of him, stopping him from doing so. 

“Toni was right, I can’t give up on my mom’s dying wishes. I have to take down these governing witches, and if I’m gonna do that, I need to be out here, finding out how to do it.” I smiled, stepping forward to hug my big brother softly. I kissed his forehead, and watched as a blue light flickered behind the archway. “It’s time for you to go get better.” I smiled, a tear straying down my cheek as he turned around to walk in. 

“Well, well, well.” I heard a twig snap behind me, and turned around to see a tall, muscular man standing behind me, shirtless, despite the nipping cold air. 

“Mad Dog Jankins.” Growled Fangs, stepping in front of Jason and Joaquin territorially. 

“What? You thought I came alone?” The tall, strong man chuckled, making my stomach churn. Something felt very very wrong. 

“Go, get him through the portal!” Shouted Josie to the boys, but before they could move in, it closed, and I turned back around to see a woman with blonde hair standing beside Mad Dog, her hand up, palm out toward the portal. 

“I don’t think so.” She chuckled, walking toward my brother slowly, tucking her finger under his weak chin. “Oh, poor baby, you seem miserable.” She sighed sadly before a diabolical smile made its way to her lips. “Let’s fix that.” She chuckled before snapping her fingers, resulting in his body convulsing. 

“No,” I gasped, then blood came out of his eyes, then nose, and Joaquin and Fangs had to let him go as he screamed, falling to his knees on the ground. “NOOO!!!!!” I screamed, rushing to him, falling on my knees to come to his aid, but he was lying on the ground, shaking until his eyes rolled back, and he was dead. 

“Jason!!!” Sobbed Josie, falling by my side and draping herself over his body and sobbing, her body shaking against him as she tried to beg him awake. “Jason, no, please, please, no! No, no, no. No, no!” She screamed, tears pouring from her eyes as she mourned the immediate loss of her loved ones. 

I didn’t cry though. 

I couldn’t cry. 

My body was too busy burning, my skin glowing, buzzing as I rose to my feet, rage coursing through my veins as I stormed toward the blonde woman, who simply chuckled before snapping her fingers at me, to no avail. Her eyes widened just before I caught her by the throat and lifted her into the air, watching and feeling as she gasped and shook in my grasp. I dropped her to the ground, and held my hand in the air at her, only for her to remain choking, trying to figure out how to stop it. I heard growling, and before I could feel Mad Dog attack me, I moved to the side, causing him to run past me, grunting angrily before turning around and looking me in the eyes, his burning with fire. 

“Kill her, Mad Dog.” Laughed the blonde, but the anger in my body took over, and I looked at her intensely, causing her throat to suddenly spill with blood, dripping onto the snow below her. 

“Don’t. You dare.” I demanded, making an example out of the woman on the floor. “Get out of my face before you end up just like her.” He grunted and ran away, phasing into the form of a wolf before he disappeared into the foliage. 

I felt my body grow tired, and I felt to my knees, the feeling suddenly fading as I fell back to my brother’s side. 

My dead brother’s side.


	10. Nove

It’s been two days since the portal was destroyed, and I didn’t even have the energy to ask why, or who the woman I killed was. I actually haven’t spoken to anyone in these two days. I’ve spent a lot of time with Josie, silently thinking about what would’ve happened if we got him there just a few minutes before the bounty witch had gotten there. 

There was something to be said about the bond that is formed when you and someone else lose a common loved one. We were easily the two people on this planet who cared about him most, and it was a wonder to me of the coincidence that the two of us would end up being able to communicate without breaking a silence. We just had to be touching, and we had a clear connection to our minds. 

‘I think that we won’t be detected now that Jason is gone.’ 

‘What makes you think that?’ I inquired, not moving from where I laid, holding her against me tightly, because it was comfortable, lying in the comfort of someone who understands your pain, rather than tiptoeing around them. 

‘Alice said that love is the kind of magic that was being detected from us, and since Jason is the only magical being that had so much love in their heart, and he’s gone now, there’s no magic to be detected there.’ She divulged. 

‘So what do we do now?’ 

‘We have to do what he’d want us to do.’ 

“Lulu, do you think you and the boys can find the governing safehouse?” Josie asked of the hulking wolf, who hummed, turning to look at us with sad eyes. 

“I have no doubt in my mind.” She smiled, and Josie sighed. 

“Can you do that for me?” 

“No problem, boss. The five of us will head out tonight, and we’ll come back with the information you need. Meanwhile, just stay near here, okay?” She suggested, moving to walk out of the bus to talk to the wolves, and her girlfriend. 

We buried Jason under the arch where the portal used to be, the triplets, Fangs, and Veronica digging the hole to lower him down. 

My body was so overcome by sadness that it felt like I was going to die from a broken heart. 

“I’m going with them.” Josie decided, standing up and brushing herself off before helping me stand up.

“What? Why?” I inquired, and she sighed. 

“Jason wouldn’t want us sitting around feeling sorry for ourselves. The best way to do that is to keep moving, and to distance ourselves from each other so we can find our individual happy places again.” She smiled and hugged me tightly before stepping back. “Besides, they’re gonna need a witch’s protection to stay safe from other witches, and who better to do that then one clouded by wrath awaiting the right time to come out and avenge the death of the man she loves?” She smiled sadly before walking outside, looking at me for a moment. “If you need to contact me, just look for me in your reflection.” She winked before walking to the group of wolves planning their trip. 

That means it would just be Alice, Toni and I. That sounded like a good duo, a goddess of stars, a wolf-witch and an emotional and magical firecracker. 

Josie, Veronica and the wolves left at sun up, leaving Toni, Alice and I with the bus, where we spent a lot of time off in Queens, by the boardwalk, because it was where a lot of people left their campers in the winter, since nobody could actually do anything in the winter time, with everything too cold for anyone to want to walk around outside. We didn’t go out onto the boardwalk for anything but to use the restroom and get something from one of the few food shops open at this time of year. We mostly just stayed warm in the bus on the first day, sitting in complete silence from the lingering shock of losing someone we all had a connection to. 

Alice lost a son. 

Toni lost the man she’d been living with for the last four years. 

I lost my twin brother. 

“Cheryl,” Toni muttered from where she was sitting across the bus from me, her eyes closed until this point, “I just honed in on some frequencies in Riverdale, and apparently in these last two weeks since we’ve left, only seconds has passed for the folks there.” She explained, her own brows knitted together in confusion. 

“What does that mean?” I scoffed in confusion. 

“Well, I told you that time goes by much faster here, and that I thought a month had gone by here, but it was twenty years.” She began, “But that doesn’t make sense, because time is only supposed to be about four times faster, not this much. Kevin is just walking back from checking to see if we got out of the woods okay, which is obviously weird, because it should’ve been a few days since we left there.” 

“Are you telling me that something is messing with the time?” I asked in confusion, and Toni nodded, moving to sit by my side. 

“That’s exactly what I’m saying.” She assured. 

“I-I don’t understand, w-” 

“It’s the governing witches.” Alice piped from where she sat in the passenger’s seat of the bus, turning to look at me over her shoulder. “When magic is being mistreated, neglected or abused on a large scale, the natural balance of things starts to become compromised. This means that soon, it’ll feel like the days are short for us, and strange things will happen, humanity being lost, animal instincts completely thrown. This could be catastrophic.” 

“Oh, Gee, love the optimism.” Toni rolled her eyes, and Alice sighed. 

“Cheryl, I know you just suffered a terrible loss, but I may need you both.” She tried, looking between us, causing Toni to raise a brow. 

“Wait,” she scoffed, “why me?” 

“Do you see any other person here?” She asked, looking around the empty bus, causing Toni to look down in realization. 

“What are we supposed to do?” I inquired, and Alice shook her hands out, standing up and gesturing for us to do the same. 

“Take hands, and close your eyes.” She guided, and as soon as I did, I could feel Alice’s jitters, and Toni’s anxiety. 

Toni’s anxiety was horrible, in all honesty, and I didn’t know why. 

‘God, I don’t know what would happen if something happened to Cheryl.’ 

“Hey,” I muttered, moving my hand from Alice to look at Toni, who seemed fine on the outside, but I could feel my own heart hammering in my chest, and I could distinguish that it was something felt by Toni. I took both her hands in mine, looking her deep in the eyes as I held our hands against my chest. “Toni, I’ll be fine.” I promised, moving our hands around my waist before letting hers go and wrapping my arms around her shoulders to hold her tightly. 

I felt her heart ease down, her body melting against mine. 

“I’m not going anywhere, not until I fix everything.” i ran my fingers through her long, pink locks as she laid her head against my chest. 

‘I could stay like this forever.’ Toni thought, and I couldn’t help my grin, my heart fluttering against my ribcage. 

“Me too.” I admitted, and she pulled away to look up at me, her eyes soft, lip twitching as she looked down to mine. She licked her lips and exhaled through her nose, the air gracing my neck, giving me goosebumps. 

“Hey, ladies? We have to open up a connection so we can talk to the supreme witch.” I heard from my mother, but I couldn’t look away, it was like something was stopping my eyes from wrenching away from Toni. 

It was like I was entranced, looking at her smile, something that, for some reason, took away every ounce of pain and anguish I’ve been feeling, from the loss of my mother, to that of my powers. 

The only thing that I felt was the fluttering of my heart against my chest, my cheeks flushed and my stomach tightening from the butterflies invading it.

“Well, if it isn’t Alice Smith.” 

We were snapped out of our stupor by the sound of someone’s voice nearby, and I looked over my shoulder, seeing a cloud in the middle of the bus. I stumbled back and fell into the seat to look up at it, a face intruding the white fluff. 

“How did you find us, Hermione?” Alice growled, and the woman rose a brow. 

“What do you mean? You summoned me.” She scoffed, making Alice’s brow shoot up at Toni and I.

“We need to know why we’re be hunted.” Toni demanded coldly, her arms crossing over her chest as she glared at the dark haired woman, who scrunched her own brows together with a laugh.

“Why on earth would I tell you that? You killed my darling Penny.” 

“Because she killed my brother!” I screamed, a fire of anger igniting in my soul and making my heart flare in a kind of rage I’ve never felt before, my back and chest both heaving. 

What was with these mood swings? Good lord. 

“He was hit with a rotting spell, child. There was no way he would’ve lived.” She chuckled. 

“Yeah, but you don’t know the kind of power he had.” I chuckled, and I felt Toni’s hand wrap around my wrist. 

‘Don’t say too much. She doesn’t know what you can do or who you are.’

“What does that mean?” She scoffed. 

“Jason was a hybrid.” Alice divulged, making Hermione chuckle. 

“He was a man. Everyone knows that even male gods are weaker than goddesses, so what good could that have been?” She laughed. 

“That magical signature you picked up?” I began, “That was the love between he and his girlfriend.” I divulged, causing her to scoff. 

“That wasn’t strong enough to be love between a man and woman, I assure you.” She chuckled, “And it wasn’t between a witch and a hybrid, I assure you.” She assured, and I rose a brow. 

“How do you know she’s a witch?” I inquired, earning another scoff. 

“That’s not any of your business.” She ensured, “Now, if you’ll excuse me, we have some wolves to hunt and kill.” She chuckled, turning to walk away, but something in me made me feel the need to speak up. 

“What if I told you we knew where a beacon was?” 

I watched the two sets of eyes widen at me as Hermione slowly turned around, an intrigued look etched across her face. 

“I’d say that I believe you.” She admitted, and I rose a brow in confusion. “The magical signature we read was from something too powerful to be witch.” She admitted, causing me to grow confused. 

I guess they can pick up my magic. 

“What can I do with that information to ensure their safety?”

“Hmm…” She smiled menacingly. “Bring them all over for a little… party at the castle, and you have my word, we’ll leave them alone.” She ensured, “Don’t forget to bring the vampire.” She winked before snapping her fingers, causing the cloud to disappear. 

“What the fuck were you thinking!?” Toni yelled, dropping her hand on my shoulder roughly, causing me to hiss, rubbing my arm softly. 

“I was thinking that I can’t lose anyone else!” I whimpered. 

“Well that doesn’t mean to give yourself to the beast!” She screamed, “It was five minutes ago that you just promised you’d never leave, and here you are, leaving like everyone else does!” She cried, and I rose a brow in confusion, causing Toni’s eyes to falter as she looked down to avoid eye contact. 

“I don’t understand, I-I…” I didn’t know what to say. 

What would anyone else say? 

“Just go summon Josie and get them back so we can head to the castle.” Mumbled Toni to herself, curling her knees up to her chest and hugging them tightly. 

… 

“Josie…” I muttered at the water, trying to will myself to conjure up something as I sat, my feet dangling from the dock I occupied. “I… summon thee!” I tried, wiggling my fingers at the water. 

Nothing. 

“Need some help?” Asked my mother from behind me, and I looked over my shoulder at her before shrugging. 

“I don’t understand,” I sighed, “I was able to do it with the Supreme Witch, so why can’t I do it now?” I grumbled in frustration. She sighed and sat beside me, laying her hand over mine where it sat on the wood of the dock beneath me. 

“Magic is fueled by the holy trinity of emotions.” Alice admitted, “Love, Joy, and Hate. They’re the three most potent emotions, so magic is easily funneled in from your soul to the outside world.” She taught, “You lost someone you loved at the hands of someone, and you had hate in your heart, and it made you lash out with all the power suddenly siphoned from his soul to yours.” 

“Mom,” I muttered, and I felt a happiness swell inside of me, as given by Alice, because I called her what I did, “I’m having intense mood swings.” I admitted. 

“It’s a thing that happens when werewolves first develop their abilities.” She chuckled. “Your brain is trying to get used to the changes happening in your body.” She ensured, “You’re going through everything your mother and I went through.” 

“I thought you said I wasn’t a werewolf.” I blinked in confusion. 

“You’re a little bit of everything. Penelope and I, and others like us were initially put on this earth to procreate with humans, and to make more magical beings, like your friends. These people were meant to keep balance in the world between humans, animals, and the earth.” She explained. “The earth and the galaxy never intended for us to mate with each other, but since that happened with you, you were predestined to be the most powerful being in the world.” She sighed, turning to me and moving my hair from my face as she looked me in the eyes. 

‘If only Penelope were here.’ 

“I miss her too.” I sighed, and Alice chuckled. 

“I forgot you can read minds now.” A sigh fell from her lips for a moment, “She would’ve been so much better at this than I am.” She admitted, looking off at the sea as the breeze came in and pinched our cheeks. 

“Can I see?” I asked carefully, reaching a hand out for Alice to take, and she exhaled, smiling and bringing it to her cheek, awaiting for me to close my eyes and look into her memory. 

We were outside, in the middle of a grassy field, and suddenly my arms and face weren’t cold, but hit by the rays of the kind, warm setting sun. 

 

“Mommy!” Called a young blonde girl, maybe six or seven, as she ran into a tent in a soil patch in the middle of it. I followed, Alice following close behind me as we walked through the fabric to see a young Alice, and my mother. 

God, they were both so beautiful that it hurt my heart to see them, already so happy to see the dynamic of the two people who made me who I am, whether anyone knew it or not. 

“What’s wrong, Betty?” asked Alice in concern as Betty held out her hand, showing a small green thing sticking out of her palm. She scrunched up her little face, making the green grow until it was about three inches tall. 

“I did it!” She laughed, vibrating excitedly, and Alice looked at my mother, who had a much brighter smile than Alice did. 

“She just read my mind.” Alice murmured to me from behind. “I was thinking that I was going to hate telling her she couldn’t do it with the governing witches chasing us.”

“Can I show you another way of planting flowers?” Grinned Penelope as she leaned in to kiss the child’s hand, plucking the flower from Betty’s hand as she stood up slowly to go out of the tent. 

Her belly was big, so that meant she was pregnant with Jason and I. She took Betty’s hand and pulled her a few feet away, crouching to the ground to dig a little hole with her hand. She waved her hand out of Betty’s view and held a hand full of seeds in front of blue eyed child, making her gasp in excitement. 

“Go get the water bottle.” She whispered to the girl, who ran back to the tent as fast as she could, coming back and arriving with the water a few seconds later. She took the water and dropped three seeds into the hole to water, cover, and water again. This went on until all the seeds were gone, and when they were done, she stepped back and watched them for a moment, cocking her head to the side in wonderment before looking up at my mom. 

“They aren’t growing yet.” She pointed out, and Penelope grinned, crouching down to look at the girl directly. 

“The ground works slowly, because she still needs practice at making it grow fast, just like you. So we need to be patient, and show her lots of love so the flowers will grow big and strong. Okay?” Betty smiled before nodding, resulting in Penelope poking her nose and standing up. 

As Penelope walked back to the tent. 

The little girl looked down at the dirt and laid against it, patting it softly. 

“Betty, dear, what are you doing?” Asked young Alice, but Betty hushed her. 

“The ground is sleeping!” She whisper-yelled, and I felt my heart clench at the way Penelope so easily gave a passion to this little girl. 

I opened my eyes, and there we were again, sitting on the dock in the cold, looking down at the water. 

“She really was the most amazing woman, wasn’t she?” I inquired, not looking up, not daring to show her the tears on my cheeks. 

“It’s okay to mourn, Cheryl.” She promised, running her hand down my back softly. “I wish I could’ve seen her before she passed.” She admitted, and I looked up, suddenly remembering what she had said to me before she died. 

“She told me to find you.” I said suddenly, and Alice chuckled sadly. 

“I figured as much.” 

“Yeah, but she told me to tell you that she never stopped loving you.” She admitted, making Alice look up at me, a hopeful look in her eyes as they spilled. 

“I wish we could’ve just been a family, the five of us.” Alice admitted, and I exhaled shakily. 

“Things could’ve been so different.” I admitted.

“Yes, but I’m not so sure if you would have ever met your love.” Alice suggested, and I rose a brow. 

“Heather?” I chuckled, “I’m sure she would be much better off if I hadn’t interfered.” I admitted, and Alice shook her head with the roll of her eyes. 

“I’m talking about your other love.” She suggested, making my brows scrunch together. 

Who could she have been talking about? The only person I saw that way was-

“Toni?” I laughed, and Alice nodded, making me snort. “Don’t be ridiculous, I met Toni two weeks ago.” I reminded, and Alice rose a brow. 

“And? Love is immediate, Cheryl. Sure, your brain doesn’t know, but your heart knows, and you’ve been in love since the moment you’ve met.” She tried. 

“You’re crazy!” I accused, “Toni and I aren’t in love. It wouldn’t make sense.” I haven’t even kissed her yet. 

“Oh wouldn’t it?” Alice laughed skeptically, “Hermione said herself that the love wasn’t from a Jason and Josie, and only people who can conjure magic contract a strong enough magic source to be tracked.” She explained. 

“Yeah, but I love my brother, and he loves me, and Toni loves Jason and Josie.” I tried to rationalized. 

“Familial love is strong, but in a different way.” She assured, “Romantic love is the one potent enough to bring more magic into an already magical union. It’s what’s kept Penelope and I alive for so long.” She admitted. 

“Wait,” I shook my head in confusion. “How is it that you’re not all withered and weak like mom was?” I inquired, causing Alice to hum. 

“It could be because of the fact that Camp Sweetwater was a magical fortress, and everything inside of it was charmed to thrive as long as it stayed inside.” She explained.

“And it was broken when the governing witches destroyed it.” I exhaled, and she nodded. “I hear you crying when you think everyone’s asleep sometimes.” I admitted, and she smiled sadly. 

“I lost some friends and family I’ve known for hundreds of years, on top of losing my son, and the love of my life.” She reminded, “It’s hard being able to live for a long time when not everyone else does.” She exhaled, and I laid my head on her shoulder for a moment as we sat in silence, when it happened. 

“Cheryl?” I heard, and from the surface came a face. 

“Josie!” I shouted, excited that I got something after so long of trying. 

“Before you ask, no, we have not-” 

“It’s fine,” I interrupted, “I got us an invite to the castle, but I need you to come back so we can all go.” I explained, making Josie raise a brow. 

“How did that happen?” She inquired, and I made eye contact with Alice for a moment. 

“It’s a long story. But hurry back and I’ll tell you on the way there.” I demanded, and she nodded solemnly. 

“Got it, boss. See you in a couple days.” She saluted before a fish jumped up from the water, making the image ripple out of the water.

“Thank you for helping me, mom.” I sighed, and Alice smiled, kissing my forehead before standing up. 

“No problem, hun. I’m going to go get some rest.” She winked, walking back to the bus. 

I was left alone with my thoughts, and the cold breeze for a moment. 

Alice has never been wrong before, so what if she wasn’t wrong here? Was Toni really my love? I mean, how could I complain? She’s beautiful, and sweet, and funny, and she cares about me, and I can see how comfortable she is with me. How warm she is, and makes me feel. 

“Hey,” I heard Toni from behind me, as if she knew I was thinking about her. “Your mom seemed sad, so I figured I’d come out and see if you were okay, maybe give you a blanket.” She offered, dropping the blanket over my shoulders gently before sitting down next to me, where Alice previously occupied. 

“Thank you.” I mumbled, and she moved forward a little bit to look me in the eyes. 

“You okay?” She inquired, making she shrug. 

“Just thinking about something my mom said.” I admitted. 

“And what was that?” She inquired, and for a moment, I contemplated whether or not I’d tell her what my mom said. 

“She said that she thinks she thinks I’m the one who attracted the governing witches.” I admitted, and she rose a brow. 

“You literally didn’t even have your powers until like a week after they got there.” She rationalized. 

“That’s what I said.”

“That would mean that you were mutually in love with someone.” She chuckled. 

“Yeah, my mom says that one’s soul is already bound to whom it should be.” I divulged. 

“So like soulmates?” She rose a brow, and I nodded, looking out to the horizon as the sun fell down to kiss it gingerly. 

“Yeah, like soulmates.” 

“Seems legit.” She nodded, and I rose a brow. 

“She thinks it’s us.” 

It was silent for a moment, before she exhaled and finally looked at me. 

“I’m sorry for lashing out on you earlier.” She sighed sadly, “It’s just that I know that in order for my parents not to be around now, they had to leave at some point, right?” She began to play with her fingertips out of nervousness, and I smiled sadly, scooting closer to Toni and wrapping the blanket around her arms as well. She laid her head on my shoulder, and I suddenly felt a wave of hopelessness wash over me. “I’m always getting left behind, so I always tried not to get too close to people, you know?” She inquired, and I nodded. 

“After Heather died, I didn’t leave my room for weeks. And up until I got kicked out, I didn’t even care about my future. I was just waiting around to die, thinking I could be with her or something.” I chuckled, shaking my head with sadness. “I guess things never turn out how you want, huh? Sometimes I felt like she was the only chance I had at finding someone who loved me.” 

“Well, now you have Jason, and Alice, and…” 

‘And me.’ 

“...everyone else.” She chuckled, looking at me in question. 

“I read minds, Toni.” I reminded, and she groaned, pulling her head from my shoulder in frustration. 

“Stop doing that!” She complained, and I shrugged. 

“You were practically yelling it at me. I can’t control it.” I promised, and Toni grumbled to herself, looking at me through the corner of her eye. “Don’t worry.” I giggled, “I love you too.” I assured lightheartedly, and I watched her smile grow as she looked up at me, that goofy grin ever present as she reached between us to take my hand from where it sat on the wood, pulling it up to her lips and pressing them against my skin. 

‘It’s no wonder they found us. Every moment with you is magical.’


	11. Una

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This was just a soft little chapter, because I was happy. Enjoy this sweet little chapter ;)

“Alright,” Toni grinned from where she was standing down the dock from me, near the water, while I stood far away, closer to the concrete on the other end. “I’m gonna run at you, and you’re gonna try and take me down without getting me in the water!” Toni shouted, and I stuck my thumb up at her to indicate that I understood. “Three, two one!” She yelled, and the two of us both ran at each other, crashing against each other. She was on top of my for a moment, but I grunted, my heart racing as I tucked my feet between us, kicking her upward, where she was sent up in the air, then backward. I rolled to my feet and put my hands up in fists, awaiting her advance again. She smirked at me, biting her lip before throwing a punch at me, something I dodged with ease, causing her to lose her balance and slip to almost fall into the water, but I grabbed her by the hand to stop her, pulling her into me. 

She was smiling up at me, chest heaving in excitement, and just as she moved to close her eyes and lean in, I threw my fist at her jaw, causing her to stumble to the ground. 

“Foul play!” She complained, and I smirked. 

“Oh, sweet, dear TT,” I chuckled, “I never said I was playing.” I giggled before pouncing on her, wrapping my arms around her neck as I jumped over her, taking her head in my arms and dropping her down on her back. She groaned, holding her stomach and hissing in pain. 

Oh no. 

I rushed back to her side to see if she was alright. 

“Toni, are you okay?” I asked with worry, and before I could process it, I was met with a grin, her arm around my head. Before I knew it, my skin was assaulted by the water, and I came back up with a sharp gasp, moving my newly drenched hair over my head. 

“No fair!” I screamed, hoisting myself up and out of the water, onto the wood of the dock. She was too busy laughing at me to answer my question. 

“I stopped playing fair when you cheated.” She pouted playfully upon regaining her composure, her arms crossed over her chest. 

“Well, now I’ve been tricked, and I’m all water logged.” I pouted, making her giggle to my again, leaning up to ring out my hair. 

“You really shouldn’t go swimming at night in the winter time, Cheryl. It isn’t good for your immune system.” She taunted in faux innocence, and I growled before tackling her to the ground and tickling her. She squirmed in laughter, and I couldn’t help the fits of giggles forcing their way through my smile as I continued my assault. 

“S-stop, stop, p-please, Cher-ryl, stop!” She giggled, trying to push my away, but I kept going. 

“I know no mercy!” I laughed, moving down to poke her sides, only for her to push my hands away through her laughter, but I kept my ministrations. 

“W-wait!” She yelled, making me stop immediately out of worry, but her serious face quirked into a smirk as she regained her breath. “You’re on top of me.” She wiggled her eyebrows at me, and I moved to get off, until I realized that, again, we were floating. “Man,” tisked Toni as she looked around, “look what you did, dum-dum.” She giggled, and I pushed her face with my hand. She giggled, taking my hand in hers and looking me in the eyes before pressing a kiss to the palm of my hand. I felt my heart flutter in my chest when she closed my hand around the kiss, holding it in hers. I grinned, and pressed a kiss to the outside of her hand. She used her unoccupied hand and laid it over her other one almost immediately, as if catching the kiss before it fall away from her skin. She closed her unoccupied fist, and moved her other hand, moving her fist to open with mine until we were holding hands. 

“Kiss the back of your hand.” She suggested, and I rose a brow in question, but did as she asked nonetheless. She kissed the back of her own hand at the same time, her eyes never leaving mine, not until she moved her lips away, then unclasped our hands, setting free a single monarch butterfly.

I watched as it fluttered in the wind, and away. 

“It’s gonna go hibernate now.” She grinned, and I was still in awe at the little trick. 

“That was beautiful.” I exhaled, and she smiled softly, moving my hair out of my face. 

“So are you.” She whispered. 

“Wet hair and all.” I giggled, and she shook her head, toying with the end of my red locks. 

“All dry.” She winked, and I sighed before laying my head in her chest. 

“Can we just stay up here forever?” I mumbled against her neck as her fingers toyed with the end of my long hair. 

“Sounds like a plan.” She hummed, something I reciprocated before closing my eyes and listening to her heart. 

‘I want to kiss her so bad. I don’t understand, I think about it, and I know I can, but I never do because I’m weird.’ 

Sometimes her inner monologue was really cute, and I liked listening to the extremely relatable things she was thinking. 

‘Man, Topaz, you’re so pathetic. Or are you just a gentle lady? You’re probably just a coward.’ 

“We’re probably gonna have to get down sometime soon, before some human comes by and sees.” Toni mumbled, and I groaned. 

“Can’t you just put a cloaking spell over us?” I complained, and she hummed. 

‘Good idea.’ she thought, and snapped her fingers, meaning nobody could see us.

“Now we can stay up her forever.” I grinned, sitting up to look her in the eyes. 

‘I wonder what sex would be like up in the air.’ 

Of course she was thinking about sex. 

Though, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t think about it. Especially being an empath who feels the things others feel? Good God. 

“How many people have you kissed?” I inquired abruptly, and she laughed. 

“What?” She rose a brow, and I shrugged. 

“I want to know you on a personal level.” 

“You literally know how to read my mind, dork.” She joked, “If you wanted to know if my nipples were brown or pink, you’d know right away.” 

‘They’re brown, by the way.’ 

“You really like using this for your own gain, don’t you?” I chuckled, and she shrugged. 

“I mean, why not?” She chuckled, “Not gonna lie, most times, I hope you can’t read my mind, but other times, it’s nice to know I can tell you how I feel without having to say it.” She divulged. 

“The part where you want to kiss me, which is that?” I smiled softly, and she bit her lip as her lips felt to mine subtly. 

“Both.” 

‘Good lord, sweet baby Jesus, please don’t be reading my mind.’ 

“Can I kiss you?” I rose a brow, and she nodded, slightly distracted as she looked at my lips. 

‘You can do whatever you want to me,’ 

Maybe we’ll just start with the kiss. 

I moved my hand from her shoulder, up her cheek, into her hair before ghosting my lips over hers. 

‘Oh my fucking God, this is actually happening.’ 

I tugged her up at me more closely, and at last, our lips had embraced, and I felt my body completely falter against hers as all the pain, all the bitterness, anguish and content completely fled from my in the form of a soft whimper. She pulled me closer to her, impossibly so, her hands clasping to my back to keep my close as her lips moved against mine in a way that’s never made me feel so happy, as though I was walking on air. Ironically, I wasn’t walking, I was floating. 

‘Thank you.’ I heard from her mind as her shoulders relaxed, and I pulled away from her, just to assess her features. She was soft, softer than I’ve ever seen her in my life, and it made my heart feel feather light.

She wrapped her arms up around my shoulders and pulled me against her, locking her hands together at my back and just holding me as she closed her eyes. I closed mine, and felt myself drifting off against her warm body, a happiness I’ve never felt swelling within my body in this moment. 

‘She really is perfect.’ I heard from her mind, before hearing my mother shout from the dock, maybe twenty feet below. 

“Do you two plan on sleeping up there? Should I sent up some blankets?” Alice offered. 

“I’ve got it, Alice, thank you!” She shouted, snapping her fingers against my back, making one of the blankets appear atop us. “Luckily, your weightlessness spreads about fifteen feet, so we have a bed in the sky tonight.” She grinned, I could feel it against my neck before she turned her face to kiss my cheek. “Good night, Cheryl.” 

“Good night, Toni.”


	12. Eleyishumi Nanye

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> happy new years

Eleyishumi Nanye

“You mean to tell me that we made a hundred mile trip for no reason?” Scoffed Josie, and I shrugged. 

“It was important for us to take the week away from each other.” I assured. “I did some soul searching while you were gone, and now, I know my brother is happy, with my mom.” I smiled sadly, and she sighed. 

“I did too.” She admitted as everyone loaded back into the bus. “I’m not that optimistic, but I know that he wouldn’t want me to be upset, and he definitely wouldn’t want me to dwell on his death.” She sighed after we sat down, toying with her fingertips, and I laid my head on her shoulder. 

“You deserve the world.” I assured, making her chuckle.

“I don’t,” She corrected, “but I deserve better, and I won’t stop until I find what that is.” She exhaled, lying her cheek on my head. 

‘You deserve better too, Cher.’ She promised in her mind, and I smiled. 

I was already getting better. It was Toni. After that kiss, I suddenly feel less lost in the world. 

Is this was happiness is, for real?

“It’s about time you got together.” Josie chuckled sadly, and I hummed. 

“Yeah, but it was just a kiss.” I chuckled, and Josie scoffed. 

‘Not from what I’m hearing.’ She thought to herself, catching my attention. 

“What does that mean?” 

‘Toni’s staring at you, wondering what you look like without your clothes on.’ She thought, making my eyes bulge out of my head as my eyes snapped from a serious Josie, to Toni, who sat in the back corner, staring at me through hooded eyes. 

I chuckled as she licked her lips and looked down bashfully. 

“Yes, she knows what you’re thinking, nasty.” Josie tossed to my companion, who groaned before digging her her into a pillow that was in her lap. 

“Is mine only based on touch?” I inquired, and she shrugged. 

“I’m not sure, but you have to learn how to turn it on and off before you try and expand your power, because if you do that, you’ll end up not being able to think for yourself because everyone who looks at you will be yelling their thoughts at you.” She advised. 

“Is that what happened to you?”

“Actually,” Josie hummed, “I was born thinking that everyone thought the way I did. I thought they always had these random, intruding thoughts that had to do with things I didn’t even understand yet. Now, my head is clear after all the horrible things I was susceptible to, not being able to control whose thoughts I controlled.”

“Got it, no expanding on powers until I’ve learned how to work them.” 

… 

The next three days were uneventful, just filled with driving, sleeping, and me performing little spells to get better at what I should’ve mastered by now. We had to go all the way back up to Canada because it’s never easy for us, it never truly would be while these people were in power. 

Now, here we are, standing in front of an old building I’d never seen before, completely torn apart, and hardly structurally sound with all the bricks and rocks falling from it. 

“What are we waiting for?” Scoffed Lulu, “Let’s go.” 

“Do we really have to, Lulukins?” Veronica asked with uncertainty. “I haven’t seen my mother since she left me with my dad.” I saw the pain and obvious hesitancy.

“Well, maybe it was for a good reason.” I suggested, and Toni shook her head. 

“She left so she could join the governing witches.” My companion divulged, and I looked at Veronica with a sorrowful look in my eyes. 

“Look, baby,” Lulu hummed, turning to take Veronica in her arms, pulling her close, pressing her lips against her girlfriend’s forehead, “I know this is scary for you, but I’ll be right here, by your side, holding your hand,” she took the vampire’s hand in hers, “forever and always.” She assured, moving her unoccupied hand to caress Veronica’s cheek, thumb stroking the flesh of the bone below her eye. 

Lucy leaned down considerably, dropping her forehead against Veronica’s as the Vampire’s hands came up to run through the short hairs on the sides of Lulu’s head before dipping her chin up and kissing her deeply. 

It was strange for me to watch them, but I feel like I needed to see it. 

The way Lulu’s face twinged into a look of absolute determination, as though she was devoted to keeping this woman safe, and the pain and fear in Veronica’s desperate antics to pull her girlfriend ever closer. 

“I’m scared,” she whimpered against the wolf’s mouth, and the wolf exhaled, moving both her hands to hug her girlfriend. 

“I know, and that’s okay, Veronica. You’re allowed to be scared, and you’re allowed to be mad. You’re allowed to feel with me, no matter how much your parents made you feel the opposite.” They way they breathed against each other, as though they’d never breathe if they weren’t able to do so together as one. 

“I-I, I love you, Lulu.” She whimpered, and blue eyes widened in absolute joy, a tear falling from her eye. 

“I love you too, Veronica.” She whimpered, and the two kissed deeply again. 

“That was their first I love you.” Josie muttered to me, and I rose a brow. “It may seem like a random and unnecessary time for them to kiss, but Hermione has almost killed Lulu, just for existing.” She uncovered more, “They were prophesied to meet, and Hermione knew that if that happened, it would throw a wrench in their plans to become the supreme powers.” 

“I-I don’t understand, what do wolves and vampires have to do with witches?” 

“No matter how much it feels like witches are the center of all power, it’s the beings of the earth.” My mother divulged. “Nymphs, wolves, trolls, they’re more one with mother earth than any human or witch can ever be. They were specific creations of the earth, made to help restore and maintain the beauty of this planet. Wolves determine so much, and that’s the real reason witches wanted Wolves dead all those years ago. Not because of the humans, or because of the danger they impose. Wolves are the most nobile, and loyal, and humane beings, but they’re fierce, and that’s what throws people off of them. They love more fiercely than any other thing on this planet, and if Veronica were to fall in love with a wolf, it would restore balance, and contribute to the destruction of the coven of governing witches.” 

“What about hybrids?” I inquired, and she chuckled. 

“If you’re wondering about Toni, you’ll have to figure that out on your own.” She assured, dropping her hand on my shoulder softly. 

“Okay,” exhaled Sweetpea, clapping his hands and rubbing them together, “we doing this thing or what?” He walked up the steps of the ruined building and stepped inside, allowing the rest of us to follow. We stood in the middle of the main room, between old pillars that seemed ready to fall at any minute, and we all held hands. 

“Close your eyes.” Alice whispered, and we all did so. “Now, just free your mind, allow it to wander to the happiest place you can think of, my children.” She hummed soothingly, and I imagined myself in my garden, on my hammock, eating peaches and reading a book with my beloved. 

I didn’t imagine a specific beloved, just one in general. I just wanted to find a true love. 

“Gagh!” I screamed suddenly, my body completely seizing up as I fell to the ground in pain. My body began to shake as my throat caught, not allowing me to say anything, the feeling of a red hot knife being shoved down my throat. I felt painful buzzing all around every inch of my body, my muscles tightening and cramping, my eyes bulging out of my head, despite the fact that I couldn’t see a thing. I was convulsing, my throat constricting. My skin felt ice cold and fire hot at the same time, and my brain started to throb against my skull and I fought to be able to say something. 

… 

“What the hell happened?” I heard Joaquin’s voice when I fell back into consciousness, but my eyelids were too heavy for me to open my eyes. 

“Toni just beat the fuck out of that Nick guy.” I heard Sweetpea’s voice. 

“He made a joke about Cheryl being dead, and she just blew up.” Divulged Josie, “So I had to put a sleeping spell on her so she wouldn’t kill him and get us attacked by the governing witches.” 

“She’s conscious now,” hummed my mom, “I can feel it. Wake up Toni.” I felt a hand trickle across my forehead, and my body felt at ease with Alice’s touch. 

‘You’re safe with me.’ Alice thought briefly, and I could feel my muscles begging me to smile, but it all hurt too much. 

“Where is she?” I heard out of nowhere from the voice of who was obviously Toni, running into the room to see if I was okay. 

She really was worried about me, wasn’t she? 

“Cheryl?” I heard from a few feet away, followed by root steps getting closer, her fingers running through my matted hair. “Cheryl, you’re okay now.” She whispered. 

‘God, I was so worried,’ she thought to me, and I felt a tear well at my eyes, likely because it was what she was feeling. I felt her hand grow cold, and suddenly, I exhaled, sitting up abruptly. ‘

“Oh my God,” Gasped, looking around at my friends, who were all standing around me with worry. “W-what happened?” I exhaled. 

“Usually, the wolves go through it, but I think that because you’re an empath, you took on their pain as your own.” Alice divulged, “When crossing to the governing mansion, wolves are cursed to feel all of the pain they’ve ever felt in their lives for the duration of their arrival.” She explained, “I think that you just felt all the physical pain ever felt by Joaquin, Sweetpea, Fangs, Lulu and Toni, all at once.” She sighed. “It’s probably why you were knocked unconscious.” 

“Wow,” I gasped, sinking into the bed I was on, overwhelmed. “Are we here now?” 

“Yeah,” nodded Josie, and I looked around, noting that Veronica and Lulu were nowhere to be found. 

“Where are Lu and Veronica?”

“Talking to Mommy Dearest.” Toni rolled her eyes, running her fingers through my hair from where she sat on the big bed beside me. 

“Now that you’re okay, we have to go talk to her now.” Alice insisted, and I rolled my eyes before prying myself out of bed to get up. Toni turned to look at me, her eyes in mine as she ran her fingers through my hair again. 

“I thought you were gonna die.” She admitted, and I grinned with the shake of my head. 

“You can’t get rid of me that easily.” I winked, and she exhaled before taking my face and kissing me deeply in front of everyone. I felt my heart flutter in my chest, and there was something different about this kiss; something much more electric, more charged about the energy between us in this kiss.” 

I pulled away to take a breath, only to realize that I wasn’t even having a hard time breathing, as I had initially expected. 

“Wow,” Toni gasped, leaning against my forehead with her own. I closed my eyes, revelling in her touch, willing myself not to read her mind, as Josie had taught me to focus on the feeling, the emotions rather than the thoughts behind them. She leaned forward a little more, just slightly, to press her lips against mine again once more, before finally pulling away, her hand still connected with mine. 

I looked around the room and noticed a little rose bush sitting on the table next to the bed. 

“How do they make it grow like that?” I asked in awe, and Alice chuckled. 

“They don’t, you do. It was a single rose just two minutes ago.” 

“We’re in a land where magic is much more accessible.” Josie divulged, “Your powers are at their strongest right now.” She assured. 

“Does that mean you guys can teach me how to use them?” I inquired of my mom, who shrugged. 

“Perhaps, but now, it’s time to meet the supreme governing witch, Hermione Lodge.”


	13. Twelve

“Good God, what the hell is that?!” I screamed upon seeing a little blue ball of fuzz look up at me from the ground. 

“That’s Charlie.” Hummed Josie with a soft smile. “He’s a whisper dragon.” 

“Dragon? But it’s fuzzy instead of scaley.” I recalled, making Josie shrug. 

“Dragons come in all kinds of shapes and sizes.” 

“This one happens to be the size of a chihuahua.” Alice chimed. 

It had a long, ugly mug with sharp teeth and a long, thick snout. From its shoulder blades sprouted little black sings, and atop its head were two strange looking antennae in place of his ears. He was sitting back, looking up at me dutifully, spiked tail sticking straight in the air, flicking back and forth like a cat.

“Most dragons are a lot like butterflies, actually.” Toni informed. “They fall asleep before the winter and hibernate in a cocoon, where they turn from little caterpillar to beautiful giants.” 

“Only whisper dragons don’t grow.” Alice chuckled. “They stay this size forever, but they can shape shift for brief periods of time.” 

“Why are they called whisper dragons?” I asked, and before Josie could answer, someone behind me did. 

“Because when whisper dragons feel comfortable, they talk to you. Tell you all the secrets they learned throughout their lives.” I turned toward the voice and noted the vague familiarity in her sharp, dark features. “They feel especially close with empaths.” She smiled, winking at me as Charlie remained at my feet. “Put your arm out at your side.” She suggested, and I rose a brow before cautiously obeying. I blinked before I noticed the black wings flapping in the air to land on my extended arm. I turned to the creature who closed its eyes. 

“It isn’t safe here.” Thought Charlie the whisper dragon, his voice a man’s voice, deep and European sounding. British possibly. “They’ll kill you.” I rose a brow at the small dragon whose tail quirked up softly. 

“He really likes you already.” She smiled. “My name is Hermione Lodge, I’m the governing witch here.” 

“You’re really popular where I’m from.” I chuckled, blinking out of my initial shock, earning a cocked brow from the supreme witch.

“And you’re very popular around here.” She countered and for some reason, I felt myself grow competitive with the older woman who so challenged me with that smirk and those cheekbones and that hand on her hip as though she was above me because of the fact that she was an inch taller and an eon older than me. 

“I hope that’s a good thing.” I challenged, and a chuckle fell from her lips. 

“That depends.”

“On what?” 

“On you.” She sighed, turning to walk away, as though she expect all of us to follow, which we did. “See, we have an oracle here, and she told us that a celestial being would change the dynamic of the magical and non-magical world forever.” She admitted as she lead us through the long, winding halls, to a large ballroom where a long table of people sat, staring directly at us as we entered. “We just want to know where you stand.” My eyes raked the room swiftly, immediately drawing themselves to Veronica and her blue eyed companion who sat at the table on the opposite of the room, bodies rigid and Lulu’s jaw clenched. 

“I just want everyone’s best interest to be met.” I shrugged, managing not to give a definite answer. “I don’t even really care about all this and I want it to go away.” I lied, but Hermione chuckled as she sat down, gesturing for me and my friends to seat ourselves in various seats along the table. There were no seats beside another, so I sat myself across from Alice, between a girl with red hair and an older woman with dark hair, a smirk on her lips. 

“And you?” Hermione asked of Toni, who stood behind me with her arms folded behind her back. 

“I’d rather stand, thanks.” She swallowed a lump in her throat as Hermione stood up again, hands folded in front of her as she approached the shorter girl, looking her up and down as she circled her like a vulture, her eyes picking at her body language, trying to take something from the glint in Toni’s hard eyes. 

“You don’t know who I am, do you?” She chuckled, making Toni shake her head, face ever neutral. 

“I don’t think I care to.” She said harshly and Hermione clicked her tongue before holding out her hand and conjuring up what seemed to be a seed, about the size of an almond, but it was purple. Toni’s eyes widened, and I felt the room grow tense as Toni moved her hand in front of her, palm up for Hermione to drop the purple seat into. 

With a clenched jaw, Toni closed her fist around the seed and crushed it, opening it again and dumping the remnants on the floor. I blinked, and from the dust of the seeds sprouted a tree with purple leaves. It grew to the height of Toni, whose face changed to the point that she looked haunted. Her eyes were vacant, her throat tight, jaw clenched as hard as her fists at her side. 

“They told me you were a hero.” Her voice was full of hatred, nose twitching as her lip quivered. Hermione chuckled and shook her head, a soft smile on her face. 

“I am, mi hija.” She assured, reaching for Toni, only for the pink haired tribrid to yank her hand away. Hermione’s smile dropped and she straightened out her posture before clearing her throat. “I have helped restore order to this world for everyone.” She assured, and Toni shook her head. 

“Oppressing millions of sentient beings is not order.” She tried, and Hermione sighed. 

“Wolves being used for their strengths, witches in power, vampires being killed,” she began, pacing back and forth, it’s how order should be, and it’s what I’m doing.” She assured, and Toni blinked, her eyes and lips twitching in disdain. 

“Th-that doesn’t make any sense, I-I… I’m a tribrid, a Vampire AND a werewolf, I mean... Veronica is a vampire!” She reminded, and Hermione looked back at the woman, who was being guarded by Lulu, standing in front of her protectively, “and you’re enslaving wolves!” 

“Mi hija, you’ll understand when you get older, I-”

“No I won’t!” She screamed, and Hermione took a step back for a moment to give Toni space. “I will never understand the necessity of stepping on others who are more powerful than you in order to remain in power!” She promised, and Hermione’s eyes softened. 

 

“Baby…”

“Don’t call me that!” She demanded, stepping forward with one foot, stepping down so hard that the ground below her cracked. 

 

I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned to note Josie at my side. 

‘She didn’t know that Toni’s a tribrid.’

‘That doesn’t make sense, does she not know who the father is?’ 

‘No, she’s thinking about how Toni’s father is a human, so she should only be half witch, not anything else.’ 

‘What does this mean?’ 

‘Your guess is as good as mine.’ 

“She obviously doesn’t want anything to do with you.” I cleared my throat, making Hermione turn to face me. 

“Right.” She cleared her throat and straightened out her top before getting back to business. “I assume I’m correct in saying that you’re the beacon.” She hummed, and I inhaled sharply before nodding. 

“I am the beacon.” I voiced, and she smirked. 

“Excellent.” She laughed. 

“What does that mean?” I inquired. 

“I’ve needed someone of your expertise for many many years.” She offered. 

“For what exactly?” Asked Alice protectively, standing up to take my hand protectively. 

‘I will literally rip this woman’s intestines out before I let her touch my daughter.’ thought Alice, making my feel slightly more secure. 

“There are some truly awful witches and other beings in this world, Alice.” She chuckled, sauntering around the room, catching every eye amongst it. “I plan on punishing them by taking their powers and making them live out the rest of their days as human.” She divulged. 

“What?” Toni scoffed, storming up to the woman with anger written all over her features. “That’s inhumane! You can’t do that, you can’t play God! It’s not fair to any of those people!” 

“Like I said, Mi Hija, you-” 

“Stop calling me that!” She screamed, voice cracking with anger, “I’m not your daughter, you can’t fucking call me that when you abandoned me and left me to die!” 

I felt something rub up against my leg and looked down to see Charlie looking up at me with his black eyes. 

‘Start running now.’ He demanded, ‘There is a power detecting crystal ball located in the top room of the South wing, go up there and destroy it before you leave.’ 

Start running? 

“I think we better get going.” Chuckled Fangs as he took Joaquin’s hand to pull him out of the chair. 

“Evelyne?” Hermione said calmly, and the redheaded girl who was next to me stood up and clenched two fists in the air, lifting the two werewolves in the air as Joaquin clawed at nothing around his neck, trying to squirm and get down while Fangs dared not move, the veins in his neck popping out as his face turned purple and his jaw clenched. 

“No!” Screamed Lulu at the top of her lungs, her bones automatically breaking to morph into her wolf self. She jumped onto the table and ran across it to attack Evelyne, only for the woman who was sitting on the other side of me to snap her fingers, rendering Lulu unconscious and turning her back into a person, lying in the middle of the table atop broken plates and silverware. 

“Let them go!” Screamed Toni, pure rage washing over her features, a vein in her forehead protruding from its place on her pale skin, her entire body rigid as the lights flickered amongst the room, chandeliers in the ceiling swinging back and forth. The untouched silverware on the table clattered as chairs shook and people looked around frantically to see who was causing this sudden storm inside this big room. 

I watched Fangs and Joaquin, their faces bluish purple as they struggled to stay conscious. 

“Cheryl, you’re a beacon, you can stop her power.” Alice reminded, “Just focus on her, and just… turn it off.” 

I inhaled and closed my eyes, picturing her in my mind, then I pictured a light switch, then it turning off. 

I heard a thud, followed by gasping and wheezing before opening my eyes to see the boys holding their throats as they coughed and gasped for air together. 

Evelyne looked at her hands frantically, pushing her hands forward and snapping her fingers to summon her abilities, to no avail. 

‘Go,’ demanded Charlie in my head and I ran as quickly as I could to help a groggy Lulu up while Veronica and Sweetpea helped Fangs and Joaquin to their feet so we could exit while Toni made the room shake and the witches struggle to stop the woman, eyes glowing bright blue against her skin. 

 

“Don’t hurt her!” Demanded Hermione as Toni ran out after me. They all ran West toward the front door and I stopped to run back, toward the South wing. 

“Wait, where are you going?” Asked Toni, worry in her eyes as I began to run away, not stopping my run to talk to her. 

“I’ll be back by the old building in a minute, there’s something I have to do.” I promised, and she shook her head. 

“I’m going too.” She insisted, and I nodded before running back, passing the door to the ballroom. I hardly noticed the loud yelling and tossing of people in the room as I ran north, pulling Toni’s hand to keep her as close to me as possible, as it was the safest. 

“I need to destroy the crystal ball.” I exhaled as we ran up the stairs of this insanely large castle, finally making it to the top floor. I pulled on the knob, upset to see that it was locked, but Toni pushed me out of the way to wave her hand, pushing the door open to reveal a crystal ball in the middle of a round, empty room. 

“We don’t have time to destroy it, let’s take it and go.” She demanded, and I protested. 

“What? No!” 

“We have to go, Miz Blossom!” I heard of Charlie behind me and turned, noting a tall black man as he ran through the room, past us and through the glass of the window. I ran to the shattered glass and looked down, watching as the man morphed into what had to be a big dragon, like the ones depicted in movies and tv shows, a hundred feet tall with wings and scales. 

His big, blue wings flapped in the air as he hovered near the window. 

“What are we gonna do?” Asked Toni, looking back at the door behind us to prepare for the people coming after us. 

“We don’t have a choice!” I shouted as I stepped into the window cill and took a leap of faith.


End file.
